Jigsaws
by Dreamsinlilac
Summary: It's been two years since the events of "Charades" and Imogen and Constance are still very happily married. From the outside things look picture perfect but for both of them there's a part of the jigsaw missing. Will they find the missing piece and if not, can they manage to live without it?
1. Two Years Later

**_A/N: As promised, the sequel to Charades. If you haven't read that you may find Constance a bit OOC but there are things that happened in the first story that explain why, I'll also be alluding to them through this one._**

"Do you have questions Ms Drill?"

Imogen took a deep breath before looking across the room to the doctor who was regarding her with a kind expression on his face. "No, I think you've answered them all for now. Sweetie, do you have anything to ask?"

From the seat next to her wife Constance nodded, "Just one, you said unlikely didn't you? Not impossible."

"I did. When it comes down to it we know very little about the human body, it continuously surprises us. You still have many options available to you so don't give up hope. Think about what we have talked about and please contact me if you have any additional questions."

"Thank you, we will"

The couple exited their doctor's office and made their way to the car park. As they walked Constance could see the clouds of anger and disappointment raging inside her wife, she reached for her hand, looking to offer support . "It will be okay, I promise you."

"Will it?" Imogen was aware she sounded snappy but her emotions were all over the place and she didn't know how to deal with them right now.

It had been two years since she and Constance had wed, well since the day before Constance's fortieth birthday which was when they considered themselves officially married from. During that time they continued to build on their relationship, they socialised, travelled and had renovated Constance's childhood home where they had since spent many a wonderful weekend and school holiday period.

In addition they enjoyed a very happy romantic life which made Constance wonder how she had ever managed without this incredible woman. The horrific way her life had been impacted by Hecketty Broomhead and the subsequent trial of the evil witch seemed like a lifetime ago. Broomhead was in prison, a barely functioning woman who had been stripped forever of her powers. In addition the archaic marriage laws for witches had been abolished and Constance and Imogen had fallen more in love each day. How they had come together had been almost like fitting together pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, one that almost seemed complete. Almost.

For the past fifteen months they had been trying for a baby. Witches had the ability to have a child with another woman and despite Imogen's lack of magical powers they had been assured it was possible. Month after month they had waited to see if they had conceived and each time they had been disappointed. It had taken a couple of months to face up to things but eventually they had decided to investigate what was causing the one dark spot in their happiness.

Having been tested Constance knew she was capable of producing a child. And although she was older than Imogen, witches bodies aged at a slower rate so she was still in the right age bracket.

For Imogen things were not quite so straight forward. As had just been confirmed by the magical doctor they had visited, she did in fact have fertility problems. Apparently there were numerous issues including not ovulating which seemed to be the key to their problem. Although magic could do a number of things, both women had to be capable of producing an egg in order for conception to take place.

It was a quiet train journey back with both women contemplating the situation. Constance could see how much Imogen was hurting, she felt the same way. They had been told that something that they both so badly wanted was unlikely to happen and it was a blow. But there was still hope, something she desperately wanted her wife to realise.

As soon as they were back at the castle Imogen had started to change into her exercise gear, desperate to let the familiar routine help her in processing her feelings.

"I know you want to talk and so do I, I promise.", She ran her hands through her short hair and sighed. "But I need a bit of space to clear my head so I'm going to go for a run okay?"

"Of course love, I'll make dinner and open a bottle of wine for later."

"Sounds good."

Constance made her way downstairs to the basement kitchen and started preparing the salad for their meal. It was as she was putting some chicken in the oven that Amelia entered the room.

"Ah, here you are. I saw Imogen go out earlier. How did it go?" She could already tell from Constance's body language that it wasn't good news.

"It wasn't what we wanted to hear. Based on what the tests show even with medical and magical help the chances are very slim, almost impossible although the doctor was reluctant to be so negative"

Amelia moved over to the sink where Constance was drying her hands. "I'm sorry my dear, I know you wanted to hear something else but all is not lost. There are many options, you can still have a child. There's donation for example, surely that's worth thinking about now?"

Constance sighed as she sank onto one of the kitchen stools. "I know and I'm not dismissing it Amelia. I want to carry a child so much but every time I've imagined it or we've talked about it, it's been Imogen's baby I've seen myself pregnant with."

"It would still be Imogen's child, you know that."

"I do but I need a bit of time to accept that my dream, our dream is not going to happen the way we wanted it to. Right now donation is still not the most appealing to me but I suppose it's something we need to think and talk about. I just don't want to pressure her, not now when things are still so raw."

There was another reason that donation was not top of her list when it came to the available choices. And even though she trusted Amelia implicitly, Imogen was the only person that she was really willing to share those thoughts with.

Amelia leaned over to give her dejected looking friend a hug. Over the last few years she had seen both women blossom from being together and she hated the the thought that yet again something had come along to affect the happiness they deserved. It broke her heart that they were being deprived of something they wanted so much. Both would be incredible parents and any child who may come into their lives would be loved unconditionally.

"It will work out, you'll see."

Constance responded with a wry smile, "That's what I've been telling Imogen, I just hope that we're both right."

By the time dinner was ready Imogen was home and out of the shower. Normally after a run she was starving but today she had no real appetite.

"It's very nice but I guess I'm just not that hungry."

Constance was feeling the same way, she had picked at the food but couldn't quite bring herself to eat it. "That's fine, we can have what's left for lunch tomorrow. How about we take the bottle of wine upstairs and have that talk. If you're up to it that is?"

Imogen truly wanted to talk. Even after her run there were so many thoughts going through her head and she knew that she needed to let them out. Talking would help and there was nobody else in the world she could open up to more than the woman she loved.

After they had settled down with their wine there was a couple of moments silence before Imogen spoke. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry? What on earth do you have to be sorry about?"

"I'm sorry that I've caused this. All those months of disappointment were all down to me."

"No, no love." Constance put down her glass and brought a weeping Imogen into her arms.

"Yes, this is my fault. I look after myself, I'm fit, I eat well I do everything I can to be healthy and for what? My body doesn't do one of the biggest things it's designed to do and there's nothing I can do about it. And it's not just that it's failing me, what kills me is that it's failing you too. I can't give you, give us what we want. You deserve so much more, you could have _had_ so much more and I've let you down."

"You have not let me down, not now, not ever. And I have more than I could ever have imagined because of you. Never, ever think that anything will change that. Everything that happened led me to you and I would go through it all again to have you, to be your wife. Yes, we're both disappointed but the good thing is we know now. We can take some time and decide what we want to do but Imogen, this is not your fault, do you hear me?"

Imogen tried to nod, though it was difficult as the embrace she was being held in was so tight. She knew what Constance was saying was true, they had each other, they loved each other and they would get through this like they had gotten through other difficult times, together. She was also relieved that her wife had suggested taking a bit of time to decide what was next. Yes, she had always said that there were options there but quite frankly they were a bit overwhelming and she didn't want to rush into anything.

"I love you so much, you know that. You are my family, you are my entire reason for being and I'd do anything to make you happy."

Constance smiled at the murmured words and through the kisses she was dropping on Imogen's face, did her best to convey that she felt the same. Neither woman had any blood family to speak of. Her own parents had passed away and Imogen's parents had such issues with the fact that their daughter did not conform to their heterosexual expectations that they had disowned her. Constance had never even met them and based on their actions she didn't want to. Bigots and homophobic people had no place in their world.

What Imogen said was true, they were each others family but that family had expanded to include other people. There was Amelia of course and she and Davina had become close allies to them both. In addition there was Imogen's old friend Anna, her husband John and their children Carrie and Jake who absolutely adored their "Aunties" and spent as much time as possible with them.

"You do make me so happy love, every single day. Let's see how we feel over the next few weeks, we'll keep talking of course but we won't rush into anything. We both want to expand our family and I still believe that will happen for us. We just need to not worry and trust that we'll make the right choices together. We seem to have a pretty good track record of that so far don't we?"

"We do sweetie."

It was going to take more time and talking of course but Imogen was already feeling reassured by the indisputable love she was receiving. Constance was right, they needed to take their time but maybe things weren't hopeless after all? Despite many challenges, things seem to have a way of working out for them so long as they stuck together.

Maybe this time would be the same?

 ** _A/N 2 Hope you enjoyed the first chapter, this is 14 chapters in total so I'm planning to post twice a week. Most of the story is written but I'm still very open to suggestions and ideas. Thanks for reading_**


	2. Choices

"Auntie Immy, look."

Imogen smiled from her seat on the deck. She and Constance had offered to give their friends Anna and John a break by babysitting their two young children for the weekend. Rather than staying at the school they had taken Carrie and Jake to their home outside the village where they were currently making the most of the large back garden.

"Oh, they're lovely flowers Carrie, are they for your Mummy?"

The eight year old bounded up the slope towards the house. "Yep, Auntie Connie helped us pick them."

"But these are for you.", Jake smiled from where he was standing at Constance's side.

As she accepted the fragrant bouquet Imogen caught her wife's eye and grinned. Even before they were a real couple they had bonded over their love of horticulture and had spent many happy hours planning out their perfect garden. The huge amount of space they had allowed them room for vegetable patches, a greenhouse and several flowerbeds which was where these particular roses had come from. Of course when they were making their plans it had always been in the back of their minds that this would be the perfect place for children to run around in. It was lovely to see that happening today, even if they weren't their own children.

"Thank you so much, I'm going to put these in water straight away and then we'd better get you ready for your Mummy and Daddy okay?"

"Okay!", both children exclaimed before running back into the house.

A couple of hours later Anna and John had arrived back, refreshed from their weekend away and keen to hear what they had missed.

"We had so much fun. Can we stay again soon?", Carrie beamed brightly at their hosts.

"You can stay anytime you like lovely. That room that you stayed in, that's your room as far as we're concerned." Constance was genuine in her offer. As well as being on a half acre of land, the renovated Georgian house had plenty of bedrooms and they were happy for their little visitors to come back as often as they liked.

Anna could see how much the children had enjoyed themselves but she was also anxious to see how it had gone from their friends' perspectives.

"Was it okay really? I'd hate to think it was too much because of, well, you know."

It had been three months since that visit to the doctors. During that time Constance and Imogen had carried on as normal, discussed their options occasionally but mainly they had just tried to let the news sink in without putting pressure on themselves.

"It was great.", Imogen looked up from the bread she was slicing to smile at her friend. "In many ways it was just what we needed, I loved seeing Constance having fun with them, she enjoyed every minute of it."

"And you?"

"You know I love them and I loved having them here. I'm not going to lie and say that it's not hard sometimes. I have moments where I feel guilty or angry or both but I have the greatest wife in the world and she never allows me to feel sorry for myself, that really helps."

"You're right." Anna leaned over to give her best friend a hug. "I know it's hard Immy but you're so strong, both of you. I haven't wanted to pry but have you thought anymore about what you're going to do?"

Imogen sighed, "We have but we still haven't made a decision. I think it's time though, I feel ready to put the wheels in motion for whatever we decide to do. I've had a chance to take in what the doctor said and I don't want to waste anymore time."

Those words were still in her mind later that day. Anna, John and the children had gone and she and Constance were back sitting on the deck having decided that they would make the most of their weekend and go back to the school early the following morning.

"What a beautiful evening.", Constance sighed with happiness as she leaned back against Imogen to watch the sunset.

"It is, the only thing more beautiful is the woman I'm holding.", Imogen paused to kiss Constance's forehead. "I'm glad we have this time together sweetie, I'm hoping it's also a good opportunity to have a talk, a proper talk about what we're going to do next." She paused to watch the reaction and upon seeing the look of interest carried on speaking. "I know we've been talking and thinking about things but having Carrie and Jake here this weekend it really allowed me to think of what could be. I still think we're meant to have a family and I don't want us to miss out or wait to long to make a decision. I want us to start moving forward with things."

Constance could feel the beginning of butterflies in her stomach but she forced herself not to focus on them. They had been here before, thinking that things would be straightforward when it came to starting a family and they had been proven very wrong. They had both learned that even the best laid plans could fall apart and she was conscious of either of them getting their hopes up. However it would have been a lie to say that she wasn't thrilled that Imogen was articulating the very way she was feeling herself.

"As do I and I know you well enough to know you mean what you're saying. Tell me what have you been thinking about in regards to our options?"

Imogen took a deep breath. "Well, donation is the most obvious one but I know that's not your first choice…."

"I'm not saying no, I just….." Constance's interruption was stopped by a gentle kiss to her forehead.

"I know and I do understand why."

Constance swirled the liquid in her glass for a moment before taking a sip. "Am I being ridiculous?"

It had taken a while when they had first started to discuss their choices but eventually she had confessed to Imogen why she was so reluctant to try sperm donation or artificial insemination.

"That's what _she_ used to say once she thought she had captured me That she couldn't wait to inseminate me. That she would have her fun with me, get me pregnant, make me carry her child, maybe even more than one. Then she would take them away from me so she could mould them to be just like her. She told me I would be nothing but an incubator for her children. Hers, not mine. I know I'm being silly, that it would be different for us, that any baby we were lucky enough to have would be ours regardless. And I know medicine and technology are wonderful and this is far more natural than what she wanted to do with me but I keep coming back to that thought."

There had been nothing natural about what Broomhead had wanted from Constance. A forced marriage had only been the tip of the iceberg when it came to her evil plans. There wasn't a day went by that Constance and Imogen, along with countless other people who the old crone had blackmailed, threatened and injured along the way didn't thank whatever deity they believed in that she would see out her days in prison, stripped of her magic and in a permanent vegetative state.

And of course, this particular couple had another reason to be grateful, they had come out of that hellish situation with something they had never expected, each other.

Imogen reflected on that conversation some weeks beforehand as reached over and gently took the swirling glass away before kissing her wife's hand tenderly. "No you're not being ridiculous. And I'm not pushing that option, it's a choice but that doesn't mean that we have to go down that route. Anyway, that's not what I really wanted to focus on. I know we've talked about it before but tell me truthfully, what do you think about adoption?"

There was a moment of silence before Constance's face broke into a shy grin. "I think that for me it's the option that stands out most."

"Really?", Imogen's own smile was breaking out at the response.

"Yes. I don't know a huge amount about it, you know it's not common practice amongst witches but to me it makes the most sense. Yes carrying our baby would have been a wonderful experience but that's only one part of what we want. We have so much we can offer a child, love, security and a safe home. Maybe there is a child out there who is meant for us, meant to come into our lives this way."

In reality Constance had been pondering this thought for a number of months, in fact from the very moment they began to get an inkling there may have been an issue that was stopping them conceiving. To her this was the perfect solution. Both she and Imogen would be completely equal in the process but more importantly she hoped that they could give a child in need the home they deserved. Her earlier resolve to keep from getting ahead of herself was fading fast as she thought about what could be.

Imogen was overjoyed at such a positive response to something she too had been thinking about. But something Constance had just said had prompted a question. Adoption was not very common in the magical world as if a child was for some reason left without parents, they were almost always taken in by a family member or close friend in order to keep the magical links strong. This meant it was in all likelihood impossible that any child they would adopt would have magical abilities.

"I couldn't care less about that.", Constance responded when faced with the inevitable question. "In fact it is the least of my concerns. My only priority would be to make sure that a child feels safe, loved and welcome in our world. And I think you'll agree that the magical world is very welcoming."

There was no question in Imogen's mind that this was true. Bar one notable exception who she wasn't even going to allow enter her thoughts, witches were a very gentle and warm group who were always keen to invite non magical people into their world and teach them their ways.

Seeing the eager nod Constance carried on, "Now, it seems like we have made a decision. What's next?"

Having already done a little bit of research they knew that they would need to be assessed and approved before anything else.

"So tomorrow I'll call a couple of agencies, unless you think that's too soon?", Imogen offered.

"Why wait?", the grin was back as Constance manoeuvred herself more fully into her wife's lap and bent down for a lingering kiss.

Imogen knew what kisses like that tended to mean and that knowledge,as well as the soft lips and tongue that were pressing against her own, was exciting her hugely. Over the last few months of course they had been intimate but if they were very honest it hadn't been their number one priority. For a time sex seemed to only be for the purpose of trying to conceive and more recently it seemed to be more of a way of offering comfort.

"I want thing to go back to how they used to be. I want us to go back to really making love, having fun, being spontaneous, showing how crazy we are about each other." In between kisses Constance was whispering what both of them clearly felt.

"Mmm, so do I. I want that so much, I want _you_ so much. Come to bed with me."

Imogen was confused when her smirking lover shook her head softly.

"Wouldn't it be more fun here?", Constance whispered enticingly. "There's nobody around to see us and well, I seem to remember a certain night we had out here some time ago, the night we finished the garden, do you remember?. That was a very memorable night and I for one would like to create another happy memory right here. Only if you want to of course."

"Oh, I most definitely do remember and I think that sounds perfect. What would make it even more perfect is if you take off your dress so I can really see you."

"I will if you will."

That night as they explored each others bodies under the light of the moon they both felt a sense of relief, almost like they had gotten back something they hadn't realised they had lost for some time.

"This is the best type of tiredness", Imogen sighed as they settled into bed some hours later.

Constance responded with a very smug look as she tangled their legs together, "Then I must have been doing something right this evening."

"Oh what we did out there was very right and you know it. And I know that no matter what I am still the luckiest woman in the world."

"For such a clever woman you have a terrible habit of being wrong.", Constance put on her best "HB" face before kissing Imogen on the nose. "The luckiest woman in the world would be me."

"Let's not argue, we're both lucky and maybe about to get luckier. I have a good feeling about this and you know I don't say these things lightly, this just feels right."

The air was still as they both considered what that could mean.

"I hope you're right love, I really hope so."

 ** _A/N So, possibly a different take on family life in this one though there's more twists and turns to come if you'd like to read it. Thanks to everyone for reading so far, I hope you're liking it._**


	3. Suitable Candidates?

"Do you think this is a good sign? That they want to meet us again so soon I mean."

Constance's question betrayed the uncertainty that her otherwise stoic expression covered. To look at her she appeared perfectly calm, however if you knew her as well as Imogen and Amelia did you would recognise the 4-2-6 breathing pattern that she used when she was particularly anxious.

"I don't know my dear but I do know that we are very much ready for this visit. I've spoken to the students and have told them that we are awaiting a very special visitor. Don't worry, I haven't told them exactly who she is, just that they need to be on their best behaviour. We have cleaned and tidied every inch of the castle and Frank has finally completed all the little jobs that he's been putting off, quite honestly this place has never looked better.

Amelia was correct, every surface in the old building was gleaming making it look much brighter and far more inviting, even in the dull January light. She knew how important this visit was to Constance and Imogen and her priority was making sure that everything went as smoothly as possible for them.

"Thanks Amelia, it does look really great." , Imogen was so grateful for all the support they had received since they announced that they were going to try to go down the adoption route. That had been seven months previously. Since then there had been meeting, classes, assessments, medicals and references gathered from Amelia as well as Anna and John. The next stage was for their social worker to visit them at their main residence, in this case Castle Overblow.

Before they could ponder on the visit any more the doorbell went.

"Let's go.", Imogen took Constance's hand and led her along the main hallway, pausing before she opened the heavy wooden door. "It's all gone well so far, this is just another formality so please don't be nervous. I love you."

"I love you too.", Constance whispered as the door opened to reveal their social worker Kerry.

"You weren't joking when you said this was a castle." Kerry smiled as she shook the couples hands. "Well, before we start do you have any questions?"

Before either woman could respond they heard a loud voice coming from the Great Hall.

"You are a totally inept witch Mildred Hubble, you still can't even get basic spells right. Maybe you should get back to the non-witch world where you clearly belong."

Constance and Imogen looked at each other in horror as they heard Drusilla Paddock yet again picking on Mildred. They were also aware that Kerry had clearly heard every word of the exchange.

"I'll look after this." Amelia emerged from the staffroom ready to deal with the issue.

"I'm sorry, that normally doesn't happen.", Imogen knew she was stretching the truth but she didn't know what else to say. Something told her they were off to a bad start.

"Oh, I have plenty of experience with teenagers. Shall we start by looking at your living area?"

An hour later Kerry had seen the staff quarters, including the room that had been set aside for a child. She had also toured the classrooms, the outside areas and the kitchens as well as meeting both Amelia and Davina.

"And you live without electricity?", she asked while taking some notes.

"Technically yes", Constance answered. "But we can use magic to simulate the same effects if required. And we do have electricity in our own home."

"Hmm.", the social workers response seemed rather non committal. "Imogen, as a non witch how do you manage without what many would consider necessities?"

Imogen answered as honestly as she could, "When I first came here it was a little bit strange but I got used to it. I've always been more of an outdoors person so I don't really miss TV or things like that when we're here. I know it may seem a little basic but I think we have a good balance of what you would consider normal and the magical world."

Kerry kept writing in her notebook for a few minutes before looking up again. "And your other home, how often do you spend there?"

"Generally two or three weekends a month as well as school holidays."

"Okay, well I think the next step is for me to see that. Is this weekend convenient?"

Regardless of what their schedule was, Imogen and Constance would make it convenient. They walked Kerry to her car having arranged for her to visit the coming Saturday.

"Thank you for your hospitality, I'll see you.. Oh my goodness, there's a girl stuck up that tree."

"What?", Constance exclaimed, looking in the direction Kerry was pointing at.

"Miss Hardbroom, my broomstick got caught in the branches, can you get me down please?", a very sheepish first year named Ivy Green asked nervously.

Within minutes Ivy was back on solid ground and making her way into the school, cursing the fact that she had decided to practice her broomstick skills that afternoon. For some reason she knew her little accident had come at the worst possible time for her teachers. With possibly the exception of Drusilla, all the girls really liked Miss Drill and Miss Hardbroom describing them as firm but fair and also fun when they weren't on duty.

Ivy hadn't known the previous version of Miss Hardbroom but she had heard about how their teacher had been very different just a few years previously. There was rumours about what exactly had happened but nobody really knew for sure, all they knew was that being together made their two teachers very happy. A few of the girls had wondered why they hadn't had any babies yet, both seemed very maternal and they often had their friends' children to visit so it seemed strange they hadn't had any of their own. Ivy shrugged as she put her broomstick back in the cupboard, maybe they were just happier without kids?

"Does that happen often?", Kerry asked.

There was no point in Constance lying. "Occasionally, at least until they get used to their brooms. But I can assure you, flying is very safe once you master it."

"I'll just have to take your word for that. See you on Saturday."

Left alone in the courtyard, Imogen pulled Constance close. "How do you think that went?"

"It could have been worse I suppose but it also could have been a lot better. Up until now I've had a good feeling, we seem to be getting positive reactions but that visit just didn't feel right to me, I felt like it was the first time Kerry realised that I was a witch, that we were surrounded by other witches and for some reason I don't think she liked it."

Imogen had the same feeling but didn't want her wife to worry about something they couldn't change. "It was just a bit new to her sweetie. please don't worry. We still have Saturday and like you said, everything so far has gone well. Let's stay positive okay?"

Constance agreed but deep down she still felt uncertain. That feeling was still in place on Saturday when they invited Kerry into their private home.

"Your garden is beautiful, you must have spent a lot of time on it."

Imogen smiled at the compliment, "We did, we still do even in the winter. It's a bit of a pet project of ours."

"Well, I think I've seen all I need to. Shall we sit down and have a bit of a chat?"

They sat at the kitchen table while Kerry sorted through her notes.

"Okay, well I have a few things to go through with you. Your medical reports are perfect, in addition you have received excellent references and your background checks are fine. It's clear that you have a good idea of what adoption entails, you've stated that you are happy to take an older child and that's a good thing, many people assume they'll get a baby and that's not usually the case these days."

"But?", Constance knew there was one coming.

Kerry sighed, "I can see how much you want a child and on paper you are the ideal candidates. You have a strong marriage, steady incomes and plenty of support. However, there _are_ some things that go against you."

"Like what?", Imogen whispered.

"Well, the castle for one. It's not the ideal living environment for a child, well a child who does not come from a magical background. Living in a more antiquated way could single them out for bullying and that is something we need to be very conscious of, especially when they are already going into a new environment."

"Is this about electricity? We can get that installed- just tell us what we need to do. Or we can live here and commute to the school." Constance was willing to do anything necessary to help them achieve their dream.

"Okay but that's not the main thing. I have to be very honest with you, there is another larger concern. I cannot say with certainty that a non-magical child will fit into your life and that makes me anxious."

There was a heavy silence as they took in what she was saying.

"You mean that because I'm a witch we are not suitable candidates?"

"Not quite." Kerry looked Constance directly in the eye as she spoke. "I'm saying I have some concerns. I still think you are good candidates and I will certainly be recommending that you are approved but I am telling you that it may be difficult to match you to a child"

"Is there anything we can do to change that?", Imogen reached for Constance's shaking hand under the table.

"No and please don't think I'm being difficult, you're lovely people and you have so much to offer. I just need to consider the child in this, so many of them are coming from difficult situations and my job is to make sure they are going into a home where they and their adoptive parents are as at ease as possible."

Kerry could see that her words had come as a blow so she stood up and gathered her papers. "I want you to have all the facts, there may be more suitable people and they will likely get priority over you. I'm not saying no, I'm just saying to prepare yourself for the fact that this may take more time than you expected."

"Or never happen.", Constance muttered.

"I'll see you out." Imogen gave her dejected wife's hand one more squeeze before getting up and showing Kerry to the front door.

"I understand that the magical world may seem a bit strange to you, it did to me at the beginning but please let me say this. My wife is the most loving person in the world, she's been through so much and she's come out of everything that's happened to her with even more of a capacity to love. She was born to be a mother and any child would be lucky to have her."

Kerry placed her hand on Imogen's arm, "I know, that's why I didn't say no. I'd better go but I'll be in touch."

It was with a heavy heart that Imogen walked back into the kitchen and saw the look on Constance's face. That broken look she had hoped to never see again was right in front of her.

"Sweetie, please don't be upset, it's not a no."

Constance laughed bitterly, "It's not a yes either. I was so stupid to allow myself to get my hopes up yet again. I really thought that it was going to happen for us this time, I thought that there was a child out there waiting for us. How wrong I was to think that something so wonderful could happen to me, that _I_ deserved it."

"No.", Imogen spoke firmly as she knelt in front of Constance, keeping eye contact as she took her hands again. "You are not going down that road. You are amazing and you deserve every wonderful thing in the world, do you hear me? I understand how you feel, I was hoping that things would be faster or clearer as well but I'll say it again, I still have a good feeling about this. And if I'm wrong, if this doesn't happen I still know we can be happy because we have each other."

At this stage they were both crying, each feeling overwhelmed by the raw emotion of the day.

"I'm sorry love.", Constance reached down to wipe away the tears that were trickling down Imogen's cheeks.

"You have nothing to be sorry about."

"I do, I was thinking of myself but this is about you too. I know how much you want this and how much you deserve this too. Besides, I have already received something wonderful and I never want you to think I've forgotten that. Regardless of anything else I have you and I am always going to be grateful for that. There may be missing pieces but if we can't find them then we'll just have to make a new picture from what we already have won't we?"

Imogen manoeuvred herself up to sit on Constance's lap where she gently stroked the loose hair as she spoke, "If we have to we will, but you're right we do deserve this. And remember, all is not lost, we still have choices. Let's just wait and see what happens now okay?"

As much as she wanted to remain positive Constance couldn't help but wonder out loud, "Wait for how long?"

They didn't know at the time but the answer to her question would come a mere three weeks later with a phone call that would potentially change their lives forever.


	4. People Like You & Me

"What else did she say?"

Imogen glanced over from the driver's seat to answer her wife's question, "That was it, just that they've had a little boy come into their care under slightly unusual circumstances and they would like to speak to us."

Kerry's phone call had come that morning and the couple had dropped everything to make the requested appointment. It was only now on the drive over to the children's home where they were meeting her that they had time to dwell on what this could mean.

"I don't want to get my hopes up.", Constance whispered.

"Me neither." Imogen had located the address they needed to be at and having pulled in reached over and placed her hand on Constance's knee. "But even if this doesn't turn into anything at least it shows that we haven't been rejected, if we had been then they wouldn't bring us here would they?"

Constance conceded that that was probably true and after taking another couple of deep breaths, walked with Imogen up the steps to the front door.

"Thank you both for coming so quickly.", Kerry smiled kindly as she showed them into the messy room that was apparently a shared office for all the social workers involved in this particular home. "Apologies for the clutter, tidiness isn't always a priority for us. Let me clear a space for you to sit down so we can talk."

Once the papers were cleared and the tea had been poured she explained in more detail why she had called this particular couple in.

"Matthew came to us ten days ago from a home in Harrow. He's just turned five and he's been in foster care for the past few years. The family he was with up until a couple of months ago were set to adopt him, however something happened to make them change their minds at the last minute."

"What was that?", Imogen asked cautiously.

Kerry took a sip of her tea before carrying on. "According to them he started to exhibit some strange behaviour, zoning out as they described it. At first they thought he was having seizures but the doctors couldn't find anything wrong with him. Then they thought he was just acting up but one day they said it was like little sparks of light started to come out of his hands. They have other children, two of their own and two adopted and they completely freaked out. The parents did the same if I'm honest,they just didn't know what to do and started to panic. Anyway, as a result they called off the adoption and Matthew ended up back in care."

"That poor little boy.", Constance could feel her heart already going out to this child that they hadn't even met yet.

"I agree, what's worse is that when these things were occurring he was hardly aware of it. He can barely articulate what was happening to him and doesn't really understand why the family that he thought was his forever has basically sent him away."

Imogen was a bit confused, "The sparks, do you know what was causing them?"

Kerry looked at Constance and asked. "Do you?"

Constance could answer with complete certainty, "It appears he has magical abilities."

Apparently she was right. Though to the non magical social workers and doctors it seemed impossible to pinpoint the cause, eventually they had found someone who could advise them. A doctor knew of someone in the medical profession who had magical abilities and he had told them what was happening.

"But wait, I thought that children didn't get their powers until later?" Imogen was struggling to take everything in.

"That is true love, however most children go through a slight period of adjustment when they are four or five, it sounds like that's what is happening to Matthew. It's nothing to be alarmed about, it happened to me and my parents showed me what I could do to get my control back. It passed in a few months and I didn't have any flares again until my powers started to come in." Constance now had a question of her own for Kerry. "What about his natural parents, do you know if they had powers?"

"We know very little. His mother was a single parent who died quite suddenly when he was a little over one. There was no family to take him in and from what we can tell Matthew was the result of a one night stand and there's no way to find his father. His mother certainly wasn't a witch but I suppose it's possible that his father had powers."

Constance nodded, "In all likelihood yes. We do have one girl at our school who comes from a non magical family but it is extremely rare."

Kerry was yet again taking down notes while Constance and Imogen looked at each other. Eventually Imogen had to ask the question they had both been thinking of.

"Is that why you brought us here? To find out more about magic from Constance?"

"Partly.", Kerry put down her pen and shrugged. "But I also brought you here to meet Matthew. He's gone through a lot but he's a really lovely boy, shy but once he trusts someone he really opens up. Please don't read too much into this but I thought he would benefit from meeting someone else with magical powers and I thought it would also be a good opportunity for you both to meet with a child. Would you like to see him?"

Constance answered for them both. "We really would."

A couple of minutes later they were being led to a room where Matthew was waiting with another social worker.

"He knows about the magic." Kerry told them as they walked. "But he's confused, he doesn't really have a frame of reference for it. I'm going to stay in the room but feel free to chat with him, he might be a bit quiet but I'm sure he'll open up soon."

She opened the door to reveal the little boy in question. He was bent over his colouring book so all they could see at first was his black hair. Then as he heard them enter he looked up, revealing grey-green eyes and a pale complexion dotted with adorable freckles.

"Hiya Matt, I've bought some people to meet you. Is it okay if they say hello?"

Matthew regarded the couple before nodding slowly.

"Hello Matthew, my name is Imogen and this is my wife Constance. Wow, your colouring in is really good, can we help you with it?"

Again he nodded and continued staring at the two women as they gently walked towards him.

Constance's heart was beating rapidly as she lowered herself down to Matthew's level. "We're very pleased to meet you."

There was a slightly awkward silence before Matthew went back to his colouring. He stopped after a minute to pass some pencils over to his new companions, indicating that they should join in. They spent a few moments colouring before Kerry interjected with something she knew would demand attention.

"Hey Matt, you and Constance have something very special in common."

He looked up at his social worker with a bewildered expression on his face before glancing at the pretty lady with the very long hair.

"Kerry's right Matthew. I am a witch, do you know what that means?"

Again his head shook slowly.

Constance smiled softly, "It means that just like you I have magical powers."

The expression of shock was almost comical. His jaw dropped as he realised that he wasn't the only person in the world with this magic that everyone seemed to be talking about.

"You do?"

Both Constance and Imogen were thrilled to hear him speak for the first time. On hearing Constance answer in the affirmative he had a question for Imogen.

"No, I'm not a witch but I love someone who is very much. And I know lots of other magical people and they're pretty great. Magic is so cool and you're lucky that when you're older you're going to have these great powers."

Matthew bit his lip nervously, "In my last house they thought magic was bad, that I was bad."

Kerry watched with interest to see how this declaration would be dealt with. She wasn't disappointed.

"Magic isn't bad and you most certainly are not bad for having these abilities. " Constance moved a little closer, still giving Matthew the room he needed but showing him that she was here to help him. "Many just don't understand it but that's where people like you and me can show them that there's nothing to be afraid of."

"But sometimes I am afraid, I don't know what to do. The doctor I saw told me things but I forget them."

Imogen held her breath as she watched what was happening in front of her. Constance had edged closer to Matthew who was looking her right in the eyes the entire time.

"May I show you something?", the witch asked in the calmest voice she could manage.

"Okay."

"When you feel your powers flaring I know it can be a bit overwhelming. But all you have to do to take control back is to pinch your thumb and your index finger, yes that one next to it, together. Then count to five and the sensation will have passed. Will we both do it?"

After several practice of minutes, Matthew was feeling a whole lot better. This seemed way easier than what the doctor had said to him. This lady must be super clever and she was really nice, in fact both women were.

"Will you come and see me again?"

It was two hours later and a reluctant Constance and Imogen had to leave. Neither of them knew how to answer the request and so looked at Kerry for guidance.

"I think that can be arranged, when can you come back?"

 **A/N: They'll be back on Wednesday :) Thanks for reading/reviewing.**


	5. Getting To Know You

That day in February was the first of many visits. Initially they continued to see Matthew at the children's home where each time he seemed to open up to them more and more. There were questions for Constance about magic that she happily answered, he also wanted to quiz Imogen about living with magical people. He was also very excited to find out that she liked sports and eagerly told her about how much he loved football, something she showed that she remembered by bringing a new ball along to their next visit.

After a couple of weeks the visits changed slightly as they were allowed to take him out for a few hours. They visited the park and the lake and on one occasion even drove as far as the beach where they took a long walk along the shore. It was on that particular day when Matthew shyly reached for both their hands as they strolled across the sand that Constance and Imogen both knew their resolutions were shattered, their hopes were now sky high.

"Looks like you've had a great time.", Kerry laughed as Matthew bounced into the home that evening.

"It was mega, we saw lots of birds and Imogen showed me how to skip stones, that was fun."

"Sounds like it. Anyway, I was thinking, Constance and Imogen are always coming to you, how about next time we go and see them? Would that be okay?"

"Yes!"

While Matthew went to put his coat away Kerry spoke to the couple. "I hope I didn't put you on the spot."

"Not at all, we're thrilled with the idea.", Imogen told her.

"Good, I was thinking maybe your house first of all and then if all goes well, maybe the castle after that?" On hearing that was a suitable plan she carried on, "In regards to your house there's one thing that concerns me, the stream at the bottom of your garden isn't ideal with a child around."

Constance had already considered that when Jake and Carrie had started to visit. "Don't worry, I can assure you that it's perfectly safe, I'll show you when you come on Saturday and if it's not to your liking I will build a fence myself."

Sure enough when Kerry and Matthew arrived on Saturday afternoon she discovered exactly what Constance had meant.

"Wow, that is such a strange sensation."

As she had tried to walk close to the stream a magical force was there to stop her. It didn't hurt in the slightest, just gently directed her away from any potential danger.

"Will it do?", Constance enquired with a raised eyebrow.

"It will indeed."

Matthew's visit to the house and introduction to Morgana, who up until now he had only seen pictures of, went extremely well. It was only slightly topped by his visit to the castle a week later.

"Woah, this is great, it's like from a book or something."

It was midterm during his and with all the students gone seemed like an even larger building. Together with Imogen and Constance he explored the rooms, especially loving the Great Hall where he played basketball with Imogen while his new friend Morgana watched along with Constance. Then after that they sat down for lunch where he met Amelia and Davina who answered his many questions about the castle and magic in general. It was apparent that the two older witches were very taken with their guest. Clearly the feeling was mutual.

"I like them lots."

"They liked you as well Matthew, they told me that when you were outside playing.", Constance knelt down and brushed the thick fringe back from the bright eyes. Matthew was about to leave and each time it was getting harder and harder to say goodbye.

Before he left Imogen took Kerry aside to make a request. "I'm not sure if this is allowed but our friends' little boy is having a birthday party next weekend and they've asked if we could bring Matt. We haven't said it to him but Jake is his age and I know he'd love to meet him."

Kerry didn't answer directly, instead she called out to the guest in question, "Do you fancy a birthday party next weekend?" Then on seeing the enthusiastic nod she asked another question. "Maybe a sleepover too?"

"You mean with us?", Imogen could see the look of joy on Constance's face and needed to make sure they were right.

"Yes, I think it's time don't you? He's responding very well to you, he talks about you all the time and you've done him the world of good. His magical flare ups are almost gone and when they do happen he does exactly what Constance told him and then gets back to whatever he was doing before it happened. Let's try an overnight visit and see what happens."

The days leading up to Jake's birthday party seemed to drag but Constance and Imogen kept themselves busy by preparing for their weekend visitor. There was already a room set up at their house but they wanted to make sure everything was perfect. Matthew's favourite colour was green so he had a green bed set and rug that they hoped he would like. They also stocked up with colouring supplies, oranges, which were his favourite fruit and the nutty cereal they knew he loved.

"Are we getting too ahead of ourselves?", Constance shared her thoughts as they sat at the kitchen table, drinking coffee and awaiting Matthew's arrival.

"I don't think so sweetie. We've been doing everything right and I think Kerry and the other social workers see that. Don't get me wrong, I know we're being tested and this is a big one but I still have that feeling you know and it's getting stronger by the day."

"He's a lovely little boy isn't he?"

Imogen walked over and wrapped her arms around her wife's shoulders, "He is, he'd be very easy to fall in love with."

Although neither said it out loud they both knew it to be true, it had already happened.

"Are you sure it's okay for me to go to the party?"

Matthew had been fine when he arrived, even after Kerry had left. It was only now that they were waiting on the doorstep that he felt a bit nervous.

"Definitely, Jake really wanted you to come. I think you're going to be great friends."

Imogen's words were proved to be true as Jake and Carrie came running to the door. "Hi Auntie Immy, Hi Auntie Connie, Hi Matthew, we're so glad you're here, come play with us."

"I don't think he has a choice in that." Anna watched as the three children sped past before hugging her friends. "Well, from what I could see he's absolutely beautiful. Have they told you anything else?"

"Not yet.", Constance kept an eye on Matthew as she spoke, she could see he was fine but was reluctant to let him get too far away. "We're planning on asking tomorrow, just to see where we stand."

Jake's party was a roaring success. The children were entertained with games and stories and lots of food. There was even a magician who didn't quite manage to entertain everyone.

"Your magic is lots better.", Matthew announced to Constance as he climbed onto her lap.

"Well, it's different.", she smiled while breathing in what she had come to recognise as his unique scent. It was fresh, almost salty with just a hint of sweetness and already she was addicted to it. "Are you having fun?"

"It's great, I like Jake a lot. And Carrie. They're very nice."

It was obvious that they felt the same way.

"You're cool Matt, I wish you lived with Auntie Immy and Auntie Connie all the time.", Carrie told him.

"Me too.", Jake echoed his older sister.

 _"_ _Me too."_ The thought was going around in Matthew's head that night as he lay in the soft cosy bed, covered with the nicest duvet he had ever slept under. He liked Constance and Imogen loads, in fact he more than liked them. And that scared him a little bit. He had liked his last family too but that hadn't gone so well. What if the same thing happened here? He didn't want to live in the children's home anymore, he wanted a proper home like the other kids in his school, wanted parents like Jake and Carrie had. Really he just wanted to stay with Constance, Imogen and Morgana all the time. He wanted them to tuck him in every night like they had that evening and be there every morning when he woke up.

He wanted them to love him.

Little did he know that similar thoughts were being shared in the room across the way.

"How cute was he with his little head popping up from under the blankets when we went in to say goodnight?"

Constance grinned in the darkened room, " And when you finished reading him his story and he was trying to stay awake so he could get another one. That was, oh I can't even describe it."

Imogen tightened her hold on her wife while placing little kisses on her hair, something she would never tire of doing while she whispered the words that were no longer a secret between them, "I want him to be ours sweetie, I want this forever. "

"I know love, so do I."

That night they both lay curled up together, no longer able to resist imagining what _could_ be, If only fate would be kind to them.

"So how did it go?" The dejected look on the child's face as well as the strained expressions from Constance and Imogen were making Kerry very nervous, especially today.

"The party was very good.", Matthew muttered. How was it time to be back here already? They'd had so much fun and now it was all over.

"He definitely made some friends.", Imogen added in as bright a voice as she could manage. She had been okay until they had gotten in the car to drop Matthew back, then that feeling had hit her, the same one that she could see in Constance. Neither wanted their time together to be over.

"Matt, why don't you bring your bag upstairs, I need to have a little chat with Constance and Imogen okay?"

The little boy hesitated at the bottom of the stairs before running back and wrapping his tiny arms around Imogen's waist, tears streaming down his face as he did so.

"Hey, what's all this?", she asked close to tears herself.

"Please don't go without saying goodbye to me. I had a really great time with you and I hope I was good."

Constance couldn't hold back her own emotions as she bent down to wipe Matthew's eyes with her handkerchief;. "You were such a good boy and we loved having you. Yesterday was very special for us and we promise, we'll never leave without saying goodbye."

Eventually Matthew calmed down and went with one of the care workers to wash his face and put his things away.

"I'm sorry about that." Constance was dabbing her eyes as she sat in one of the office chairs again.

"I'm not." Deep down Kerry knew her hunches when it came to these two had been right, what she had just seen had proven that. "That little boy adores you and if I'm not mistaken that feeling is reciprocated?"

"Without a doubt." The butterflies had left Imogen's stomach and were now dancing all over her body in anticipation of what may be coming.

"Good. As you know I've been watching your interactions with Matthew very closely and I've been very impressed. I have also realised that I was wrong that first day I came to your house, it wasn't difficult to match you to a child. Whether it was fate, or luck or magic, that match seems to have naturally occurred."

"What exactly do you mean?", Constance needed to be really sure that she was correct in what she was hearing.

"I mean that I would like to place Matthew with you with a view to you adopting him. I already know it's what he wants and if there was any doubt his little display out there cleared it right up. What I am proposing would involve a ten week foster placement where we will monitor you and see how it's going. Even though it all looks positive now sometimes things don't work out and we need to be prepared for that. However, if everything goes to plan and the three of you are happy to proceed, then you can apply to the courts to adopt him."

She regarded the couple in front of her with a grin, they were about ready to leap out of their seats with excitement, making her next question to them completely redundant but officially she had to ask. "Would you like to start the process of adopting Matthew."

It was Constance who regained her power of speech first.

"There is nothing we would like more."

 ** _A/N:So Matthew will be coming to stay with Constance and Imogen. I have to say I feel like I'm cheating on my Drill girls a bit but this is only a one off :) Hope you liked this one and as a heads up, we're looking at a bit of a rating change in the next chapter while the soon to be foster parents take advantage of the alone time they have left ;)_**

 ** _Hope you enjoyed this one._**


	6. Dinner & A Little More

**_A/N: Heads up, this is one of the chapters that warrants that "M" rating I've given this one. If that's not your type of thing that's cool, Matthew will be arriving on Wednesday's chapter. If this is your thing then you may be interested in a "Life Universe" one shot I posted on my Tumblr - dreamsinlilac which can be found by searching "Little Bites". ;)_**

"What do you mean we're leaving now?"

Constance grinned before bending down to kiss away the confused look on Imogen's face. "Exactly what I said, Amelia will take your PE classes for a walk in the morning and my groups have plenty of work to do. You and I are off for the entire day tomorrow and if you'd stop asking questions we could start our free time right now."

It was only when they were settled in the car that she carried on with her plan. "When I was speaking to Anna the other week and she mentioned that before their children were born they took a little break away, a baby moon I think they called it. Well,we may not be getting a baby but we will have Matthew with us from tomorrow and excited as I am about that, I liked the idea of making the most of our last night before he arrives. So I'm declaring tonight a very romantic night in."

It was Thursday evening and the arrangements had all been made for Matthew to come the following afternoon. He was completely over the moon with the arrangement as were his prospective parents. They were all clear that these ten weeks would be a testing period for all of them, nothing was definite yet but they all desperately wanted it to work out.

"Oh sweetie, that sounds perfect, thank you for thinking of it."

Their house was only a couple of miles away from Cackle's and they passed the short drive by making plans for the following day. Then when they arrived it was time to do some last minute organisation before they could really focus on each other.

"I think that's enough books to leave here. We've got more at the castle and you can always fly over here to swap them if necessary."

Matthew had told them how much he liked books and although there were lots at the home they were shared and as a result got damaged very easily. With Kerry's permission they had bought him a couple that were his very own and he treated them like they were made of glass- apparently a common trait amongst children who didn't have a lot of personal possessions. Both Constance and Imogen knew how much anything Matthew received meant to him. He was still raving about his pillow and duvet set and couldn't believe he be sleeping under it, or a matching set at the castle for many more nights, Neither wanted to spoil him but they wanted to make sure he was comfortable, secure and knew that anything he was given was without question his. This meant that there were plenty of books available as well as colouring supplies, toys, and some new clothes that having seen his wardrobe they knew he badly needed.

Constance took a final look around the room, "I just hopes he likes everything. Well, seeing as we're all set shall we go downstairs and open that bottle of wine?"

"You go and pour us some, I'll follow you down in a second."

Left on her own Imogen quickly ran into their bedroom and made a quick change, knowing that depending on how the evening went she might not get the chance again. Feeling pleased with how she looked and excited for what was ahead she made her way downstairs to enjoy a very special meal.

"Mmmm, this is so good."

"Thank you love." Constance finished the last of her prawns and smiled across the table. It would probably have surprised a lot of people but she was the main cook in their relationship as left to Imogen, who really wasn't the greatest chef, they would only ever eat salads or the occasional sandwich. She had made a vow to improve her skills with Matthew coming to them but although Constance was being encouraging experience had told her to expect several burnt out saucepans in their future.

"More wine?", Imogen offered a little later in the evening. Then she saw the look on her wife's face. "No?"

"Don't you want something else?", Constance's voice had dropped to a very familiar level. She arched an eyebrow and continued, "That _and_ wine maybe?"

"I believe I could have my arm twisted."

"Then follow me."

It ended up being Constance who followed an extremely eager Imogen into their bedroom. Still, she wasn't about to argue her point, it was clear they both wanted the same thing, very much so judging by how she was being pressed up against the bedroom wall.

"I thought I was leading this?"

Imogen was currently far more interested in kissing rather than talking but eventually paused her actions to answer the question. "We can share can't we?"

"We…" the kisses to her throat were making it almost impossible for the witch to reply. "We can."

Sharing apparently meant Constance's dress being very slowly removed while Imogen admired what was lying underneath.

"You definitely had this planned.", she whispered as she stroked over the ivory silk bra and pants set.

"Oh, I most certainly did. Now, as much as I enjoy you admiring me, I feel rather underdressed in comparison to you so can we please rectify that?"

"So bossy.", Imogen murmured with a shiver of excitement and happiness.

So many times over the years Constance had told her that she never once regretted holding onto her virginity for so long, that what they had together was more than worth waiting for. And there was no question that in their time together they had both built confidence in this area, Even though Imogen had more experience she had gone through her own issues. The messy breakup of her previous relationship had caused her to feel inadequate and undesirable. That, combined with the other rejections in her life had meant that for a time she had thought she deserved to feel that way. Now things were completely different and those issues had been overcome through the love of her amazing wife.

"You love when I'm bossy." Constance may have been busy undoing Imogen's shirt but she still needed to point out the obvious, until she got distracted by what was being revealed. "Ahh, this is a nice surprise."

"Expecting my sports bra were you?" Imogen's quick change had ensured that she too was fully prepared for their evening. The teal lace bra and matching shorts had caused a very positive reaction the last time she had worn them and she could pretty much guarantee that it would be repeated tonight.

"You know how sexy I find you when you are in your sports bra but this is very nice indeed.", Very nice was an understatement, Constance was getting more excited with every second that passed but she also wanted to make the most of their foreplay which was why was resisting the urge to pull the items off at once.

With the majority of their clothes gone all that could be heard in the room was the sounds of kisses, gasps and moans until Imogen couldn't hold back her desires any longer.

"I want to taste you."

The groan she heard in response was just the permission she needed as she sank down to her knees. She pulled the lacy pants down, savouring the familiar scent as she did before hooking Constance's leg over her shoulders and whispering, "Mmmm, just what I wanted."

Constance's legs were shaking but that didn't even register with her. She was barely aware of anything beyond what was happening. Imogen's tongue was teasing her with long, slow movements, just as she liked it. And then, just as she thought she was going to go mad from desire, the tactics changed. Suddenly it was right where she needed it most, kissing, licking and sucking. And there was more, the fingers that had been lightly stroking her as well were now moving with a lot more purpose, they were inching inside her, matching the rhythm of the mouth that was working her clitoris in that perfect way.

"Yes, oh yes,oh, oh, Imogen, please don't stop. Oh….."

If she hadn't been so busy Imogen would have been grinning like a Cheshire cat. She loved doing this, loved the contradiction of being on her knees yet being the one who was in control. But more than anything else she loved the noises she was hearing from her partner, those noises told her that she was doing exactly the right things.

It was with some reluctance that once the aftershocks were finished, she eventually stopped her actions and made her way back up along the taller body to steal another type of kiss. "Liked that did you?"

Unfortunately even after over two years of marriage Imogen still tended to forget the one advantage her wife would always have over her- which was how she came to find herself no longer standing, but rather magically deposited on the bed.

"Cheater."

"Really?" Constance removed her own bra then crawled onto the bed with a determined look in her eyes. "If I was cheating you'd be completely naked. Instead I decided to give both of us the pleasure of me taking off your underwear while I decide what to do with you."

The nipping kisses as well as the more gentle touches while her bra was being removed were arousing enough but as she felt the air hit her most private parts Imogen couldn't lie still any longer. Her back arched off the bed and her fingers grabbed the sheets for purchase.

"Baby, please-I don't care what you do but please, please just do something to me. I can't wait any more."

That was exactly what Constance had been aiming for and having heard what she wanted she certainly wasn't going to refuse the request. She also couldn't deny that although she was already very satisfied she wanted more.

"Up you get."

Suddenly Imogen found herself back on her knees, except this time she was on their soft bed and almost at eye level with Constance who, from the way she was moving was making her intentions clear.

"Yet another reason why being with a woman is so amazing." As their nipples grazed against each other Imogen could have sworn there were little electrical currents rolling through her body.

"I can think of many more."

In a practiced move they both came even closer together. This was a position that they came back to time and time again as it allowed for kissing as well as plenty of body contact. By this stage both were so turned on that they knew it wouldn't take much, that just the right amount of pressure from grinding against each other would bring them to that mutual perfect moment that they both desired.

The orgasm hit Constance first but within seconds she was being followed over the edge by a moaning Imogen. The waves passed between them both almost in a seesaw effect until eventually it faded away, leaving two exhausted, but very happy women in its wake.

"I need to lie down."

Imogen could not have agreed more and adjusted them so they were lying in much the same way they had been kneeling, facing each other, legs intertwined and close enough to keep exchanging kisses.

"Was that what you were hoping for?"

"And more." Constance gently stroked Imogen's messy hair as she answered. "You?"

"Almost, though a little more kissing would make it really perfect."

For several moments they exchanged kisses, stopping occasional to share some special words and secret thoughts.

"Do you remember when we used to practice kissing?", Imogen smiled before going in for another kiss.

Although many of the days before they truly became a couple were too painful to dwell on they were able to laugh at some of the more ridiculous moments, including their kissing rehearsals.

"Indeed I do. And if you'd told me that after all this time that I would be kissing you several times a day, every single day because you would _really_ be my wife, I would never have believed you."

"Sweetie….."

"No, it's okay love, this is a good thought. We were meant to be, I know that. And despite a few hiccups we've been so happy haven't we?"

"Very."

"I know I've had my doubts, my moments where I've been afraid to be too hopeful in case we get hurt. And I know things are about to change and we'll have to make adjustments, but I truly believe we're about to become even happier. Tomorrow Matthew will come to live with us, we're finally getting our chance to be parents and I know we're going to shower that little boy with every bit of love we can. It feels like everything is falling into place. Do you feel like that too?"

Imogen was beaming as as she heard the heartfelt words. The following afternoon they would be bringing Matt to what they were praying would be his forever home. Constance was right, there would be some pretty major changes but from what they had seen so far it would be entirely worth it. They were madly in love with each other and that love had already stretched to include the child they had met a mere six weeks beforehand.

"You know I do. This is everything we've ever wanted and I can hardly believe that this time tomorrow he'll be here with us. We have a right to this happiness but what's more so does Matt and I can't wait for us to start giving him the life he deserves."

"We have ten weeks to do that.", Constance whispered her thought into Imogen's bare shoulder.

"Shh, remember what we said, we're not going to focus on time limits, just on what we can do for him and for us."

They lay together in silence for a moment until Imogen glanced at the clock.

"Hmmm, ten o'clock."

Constance sighed, "Tomorrow afternoon seems so far away."

"You know, I have a trick that can make time go faster?"

"Oh really?"

Imogen moved to straddle her wife before answering, "Really. I find that if I am in bed, preferably naked with some wine and a very sexy woman with me, time seems to fly."

"Ah that would be time well spent. And luckily for me I seem to have everything you mentioned right here. Maybe we should pool our resources? Time might go even faster then"

Imogen bent down for another kiss., "We can certainly try."


	7. Welcome To Cackle's

When the following afternoon finally did roll around it brought with it a very eager Matthew who was anxiously sitting in the back of Kerry's car as she pulled into the large driveway.

"Ready to go Matt?"

He nodded rapidly, grabbing his little rucksack while his social worker took the larger bag. Everything was fine until they reached the doorstep where he had a bit of a wobble.

"What if they've changed their minds?"

Kerry had been expecting this and so put the bag down before dropping to Matthew's level to answer him.

"You know they haven't, remember I phoned them earlier? They're just as excited about today as you are. I know why you are a bit worried but Constance and Imogen are going to look after you so well. And I'll still be coming to see you every week and you can phone me if you need to, okay?" On seeing the smilie in response she stood up, "Come on, they'll be waiting."

As Kerry knocked on the heavy door she caught a glimpse of Matthew smoothing his fringe down out of the corner of her eye. He had already brushed his hair three times and cleaned his teeth twice that morning, wanting to look perfect for his new family. She was still smiling when the door opened, revealing a couple who both looked part ecstatic, part petrified.

"Hiya Matty.", Imogen crouched down to ruffle the black hair. "Can I give you a hug to say welcome?"

Although he never said no, both she and Constance had always asked when it came to showing affection. They were desperate to show Matthew how much they cared about him and how wanted he was in their lives but they needed him to take the lead in this area.

"Please."

Once Imogen had received her hug it was time for Constance to get hers.

"We're very, very glad you're here.", she whispered softly as she held the child close, causing his entire body to light up with happiness. "Lets get you settled."

While his bag was unpacked with the help of Imogen and Morgana who had followed them upstairs, lunch was being set out in the kitchen.

"He should be pretty hungry. He was too excited to eat much breakfast this morning."

"Really? Do you think there'll be enough here for him?"

Kerry laughed as she looked at the food on the table, that was _not_ going to be an issue, "There's loads and all his favourites too, you've got good memories. Please Constance, relax, you're doing fine."

The witch took a deep breath before asking something that had been playing on her mind, "I know we only got an opportunity with Matthew because of his powers and I'm very grateful for that, but I have to know, do you still have concerns about me as a parent?"

"No.", Kerry shook her head. "And I apologise for making you think that. You and Imogen were very unique to me and that made me nervous. Yes, I thought of you when Matthew came along because of your powers but that's not the reason you got a chance. You've both been wonderful with him and just like I told you last week, he's crazy about you. There is no reason for you to doubt yourself, I have to be cautious but I do see this really working out for all of you. But of course, I didn't just say that."

Feeling much better about her abilities as a potential mother Constance finished setting out the food before calling Imogen and Matthew down to eat.

"Wow, chicken sandwiches, yummy. Can I have one?"

"You can have more than one.", Imogen helped him select what he wanted before taking her own food.

Lunch went extremely well, Matthew ate his fill and declared them the best sandwiches he'd ever had.

"I'd have to agree.", Kerry stood up and gathered her belongings. "Well, you're all set so I'm going to leave you to it. I'll come to the castle next week for our visit but please call me if you need anything."

After another hug for Matthew she left feeling more positive about this placement then she had been for a very long time.

"Well now, we have Carrie and Jake and their parents visiting tomorrow and we're going to go to the castle on Sunday so you're ready to start your new school on Monday. But today we wondered what you would like to do. Any ideas?"

Constance watched while Matthew thought for a moment before shyly asking, "Can we go for a walk?"

"That sounds like a marvellous idea."

The house they lived in, which had been Constance's childhood home, was in a relatively rural area that was very popular with walkers and ramblers. As a result there were plenty of paths that took them past woods, fields and farm areas.

"Oooh, look- cows."

Imogen looked at where Matthew had pointed. "Oh yeah and guess what, a bit further down we might see some pigs."

At the mention of the animals Constance grimaced, something that didn't go unnoticed by their charge.

"Don't you like pigs? They're very cute."

While her wife sniggered Constance explained briefly why they weren't her favourite animals. "Once when I was a little girl my parents were visiting their friend who had a farm. I was playing with their children in the farm yard and we went into the pigsty. I got stuck while the other children ran away and I was left on my own with the pigs for twenty minutes until my father came out to find me."

Rather than laugh like Imogen did, Matthew reached for Constance's hand and in a very sincere voice told her, "I'm very glad they found you."

Imogen swallowed her giggles and reassured them both, "So am I."

The mention of parents had prompted a question that Matt wanted to ask, "Where are your Mummies and Daddies?"

Deciding that honestly was the best policy they answered him.

"My parents died Mathew, my mother a couple of years ago and my father some time before that", Constance hoped her answer wasn't too upsetting. "Do you know what that means?"

He nodded wisely, "They're in heaven."

She squeezed his hand briefly, "I like to think so."

"I'm sure they are." Imogen may have only met Eleanor once at the very end of her life but from what she had seen and what Constance had said, her parents had been very good people. After making sure that Matt was okay with the mention of death, she carried on with her own answer.

"My parents weren't happy when I told them that I liked girls so we don't talk. It's sad but I'll answer any questions so please don't be afraid to ask okay? However, the main thing for you to know is that I am very happy with my life, especially now that you're in it. I love my wife so much and if they don't like it I don't want them in my world."

"They sound very silly." Matthew couldn't see what the problem was, Constance and Imogen were great and they seemed to love each other lots and lots. Who wouldn't want that?

"They sure are. Right little man, you've been walking for a long time, fancy a piggyback?"

As Imogen carried a giggling Matthew on her back, she let all thoughts of her bigoted parents leave her mind. They were the ones who were missing out, not her or Constance and certainly not Matt.

By the time they got home it was time to start dinner.

"Do you like fishcakes?", Constance asked an unsure looking Matthew.

It turned out he did indeed enjoy the fish and potato mix as well as the broccoli and carrots that were served with them.

"We'll definitely be having them again.", Imogen answered when asked the question. "So now what? Would you like to play? Or read? Or talk?"

Reading sounded like a great idea, especially having seen all his new books laid out in the bedroom. It got even better when he snuggled between his new favourite people who were very happy to help him with the words he struggled with.

"Very good, we can do some more tomorrow evening. Now, I believe it's time for a shower and bed. Or would you rather a bath?"

Matthew was confused, he had seen a shower in the small bathroom attached to his room but no bath.

Constance elaborated, "You can use ours any time you like. And the same at the castle."

Showers were okay but baths were way more fun, especially seeing as they didn't have them in the home. Matthew bounded up the stairs and watched as Imogen filled the tub, adding in plenty of bubbles and bringing some bath toys that were especially for him out of the cupboard. Then he happily shed his clothes and hopped into the perfect water.

Although the need for space was important, he was still too young too be left on his own in the bath. Instead Imogen and Constance stayed with him while he played and chatted easily.

"Amelia and Davina are very much looking forward to you coming to the castle. And the girls at the school know all about you, they might be a little curious but that's because they're not used to us having a child with us."

Rather than making him nervous that knowledge made Matthew very happy. In his last foster home the family had a few children and there had been others in the past. Knowing that he was the first child Constance and Imogen had actually made him feel very special, something he was still feeling as he was tucked into by Imogen bed a little later.

"There's some water there for you and you know where we are if you need anything at all. Are you ready to sleep?"

It had been a long day and Matthew was exhausted but he had one more tiny request. "Will you both stay with me for a little while?"

Constance sat alongside him and stroked his hair, using an almost indistinguishable amount of magic to help him settle slightly. Within five minutes he was fast asleep leaving the two women watching him.

"So far so good.", Imogen whispered.

"I think so, he's a little nervous, just like we are but I think he's happy. I just hope he sleeps well."

Matthew did indeed sleep well, so well that he had to be woken up for breakfast. They had just finished eating when Anna and John arrived with the children.

"Auntie Immy, can we play in the garden?", Carrie asked.

"You sure can, we'll join you in a minute."

While the children kicked their ball and chased each other around on the grass, the adults took their cups of tea out onto the deck and watched them.

"I'm so happy for you both.", Anna squeezed Imogen's arm as they stood at the railings. "He's such a lovely little boy."

"I know, good with a football as well."

John laughed in response, "Perfect kid for you both, magical abilities and likes sports. Will we give them a game?"

Having been well and truly worn out by their two new players, the children were without question ready for lunch. Considering she had done the majority of the cooking Constance was banned from doing any other work and so was sitting outside while the others cleared up and did the dishes and the children were back playing. This, combined with her excellent hearing meant that she was able to hear the question that Jake whispered to Matthew.

"Are you going to stay with Auntie Immy and Auntie Connie forever? That would mean that we could be best friends."

"I'd like that. And I hope I can stay.", Matthew confided. He already liked Jake way more than the other boys he knew. And Carrie was great too, even though she was a girl.

 _"_ _I hope so too, so much."_ , Constance thought to herself as she felt two familiar arms wrap around her shoulders.

"This sight makes me so happy.", Imogen whispered. "I love you."

"I love you too."

The rest of the day passed in a blur of games, food, bath time and stories. All too soon it was Sunday morning and time to return to Cackle's.

"Anything you want to know before we go in?", Imogen turned around in the drivers seat and regarded their backseat passenger. Matt certainly wasn't shy when it came to asking questions, something that pleased them greatly as it was a clear sign that he was at ease with them.

"No. Well yes, are the girls nice?"

Again, honesty was the best policy here as she answered him, "Most are lovely. There are one or two who, well, they're not always that nice. That can happen with teenagers, especially those who would maybe rather not be at boarding school. But if any of them say anything that makes you unhappy, you tell us or Amelia straight away."

"I will. Oh, I have another question, how will I get to school tomorrow? Do I have to get a bus?"

"No need, it's only a short walk away so we'll bring you and collect you every day." Imogen noticed the relief on Matt's face. Ideally they would have liked to bring him to meet his new class before he started but there hadn't been time. Still, they knew that the village school was a good one and the headmaster had assured them that he would be well looked after.

With all the questions answered for now, the two adults, one child and one cat left the car to be greeted by Amelia and Davina.

"We are very happy to have you back Matthew. Welcome to Cackle's." Amelia was thrilled that things seemed to finally be working out for the couple she was so fond of. And of course the little boy she hoped would be a part of all of their lives in the future.

"We really are." Davina wrapped Matthew up in a big hug before swinging him around, personal space was never a priority for her.

"Davina.", Constance hissed, they had already discussed this.

"It's okay.", Matthew replied once he got his breath back, "I don't mind. And you don't have to ask before you hug me, I like hugs lots.", he added in a barely audible whisper.

"And we love giving them to you." Not caring that there were a group of students watching their every move, Constance did just that.

It was Imogen who took the lead in introducing Matt to the girls who had all made it their business to be in the courtyard or the hallway as their teachers arrived back.

"A boy at Cackle's, I never thought I'd see the day." Amelia mused as she watched Matthew meet the illustrious Mildred Hubble for the first time.

"Do you mind?", Constance was really only teasing in asking, she knew the answer.

"Certainly not. Do you?"

Amelia's question was slightly more serious in nature. If Constance and Imogen had been able to conceive a child themselves in all likelihood it would have been a girl. Although she knew they were deliriously happy she couldn't help be slightly curious, Constance with a son was another sight she could never have envisioned until this very moment.

Constance opened her arms as Matthew ran over to get another hug and tell her about the nice girl called Mildred who had offered to teach him how to play marbles.

"Not in the slightest. I have a job I love, two homes, friends, a gorgeous wife who is my partner in everything and now this beautiful boy. What more could I ever want?"

Deep down she did want something else, she wanted to know that they had a child, more importantly _this_ child, forever. Both she and Imogen were determined to make their dream a reality but only time would tell if it would really happen.

 **A/N To anyone who is following, sorry this one was a bit late. I hope it was worth the wait. And for anyone who has seen the "Pig In A Poke" I had to give a reason why Constance had such an aversion to pigs ;)**


	8. Beautiful Boy

**_A/N A declaration and a potential change to the family arrangements here. Hope you enjoy._**

It was just after 9AM on Saturday morning when Constance put her pen and notebook down and allowed herself a luxurious stretch against the pillows. She had been awake since Imogen had risen to go for a run an hour beforehand. How her wife had found the energy was slightly beyond her, they had expanded rather a lot between them both the night before and she was still feeling the effects.

Although Matthew's arrival had certainly caused some changes in their routine, the fact that he was a little bit older and tended to wear himself out during the day meant that once he was in bed they still had some couple time, something they recognised was vital. As was some alone time which was why Imogen was enjoying her run while Constance happy to stay in bed and make a note of the happiness she was feeling in her journal, a daily habit she had maintained since seeing a counsellor after the trial.

 _"Maybe I should get up."_ The thought had barely floated through her head when suddenly there was no maybe about it.

"Owwwwwwwww."

Matthew's yell of pain had her out of bed and across the hall in seconds.

"Are you alright? What happened?"

"I…. I tripped over and hurt my arm. I'm sorry, please don't be mad"

Constance could already see the friction burn forming where he had scraped his elbow on the rug. She could also see something else, tiny little magical sparks. They didn't worry her, there wasn't enough power to cause any harm but she could see that Matthew was frightened. His magic had not been in effect for weeks now but the shock of the fall had obviously caused a flare up.

She felt terrible, had she gotten up a bit sooner maybe this could have been avoided. But it had happened and she now needed to do what she could to make Matthew feel better- which judging by the panicked look on his face meant dealing with the magical issue first. Kneeling down on the floor she gently took both small hands in hers and guided his fingers into the proper positions

"I'm not mad, not in the slightest, I just want to help you. I'm going to fix your elbow in just a second but first, let's do our breathing, do you remember? Yes? Good boy. Now, fingers together and press. Count to five And again. Again. There we are, all gone."

It seemed that one issue had been dealt with but there was still one more to resolve.

"You wait here with Morgana, I'm going to get the first aid box from the bathroom and I'll get you fixed up."

For a second she debated a magical solution but she and Imogen had already agreed that apart from natural potions or real emergencies, Matthew would be treated like a normal child. Besides, he had probably had enough magic for a while.

There were still some sniffles but Matthew agreed before petting the black cat who was gently pressing against his leg after following her mistress into the bedroom.

Constance was back almost instantly and got to work cleaning the wound. "I know it stings", she murmured on hearing the little hiss. Then she cut some gauze and placed it over the burn as she had learned to do in the practical First Aid course Imogen had insisted she do when they had started trying for a family.

"Does it still hurt?"

Matthew nodded again.

"Well, we can't have that. Let's try something else." Constance bent down and kissed the injured area. "Now?"

"Better." He smiled briefly before his face clouded over again. "I got scared when I fell and then my magic came back. I forgot what you told me. I'm sorry."

It was breaking Constance's heart to hear the unnecessary apologies but she knew it was as a result of prior bad experiences. She adjusted her position so she was sat on the floor and leaning back against the bed before carefully bringing Matthew into her hold.

"You have absolutely nothing to feel sorry about. You got a little fright and your magic flared up. Believe me, I understand that, everyone who has magic does."

"They do?"

"I promise. It's perfectly normal and you did nothing wrong"

There was silence for a moment as Matthew thought about what she had said. He knew Constance would never lie to him about anything, especially magic. If she said it was normal then it must be.

"Do you have any questions?"

Matthew's stomach managed to answer before he could. "Yes, can we have some breakfast?"

When Imogen came home twenty minutes later she found the injured party sitting at the kitchen table eating fruit salad and toast and ready to show off his war wound.

"Constance made it all better. It was like magic."

"Was it?", Imogen asked quietly a little later when Matt had gone to watch some cartoons as a recovery treat.

"No." Constance saw the sceptical look. "I swear I didn't. I helped him stop the sparks, dressed his elbow and then, well, I kissed it better."

Immediately Imogen felt like a complete bitch for having had any doubts. "You did? Oh, that's so sweet. I know you didn't use magic, I'm sorry for even asking. And I'm sorry you were here on your own when it happened, you must have gotten an awful fright."

"I did, I felt terrible but I know that these things are going to happen, especially with an energetic little boy like Matthew around." She moved closer into the arms that were holding her and shared what had been going through her head since the incident had occurred earlier. "I was just glad I knew what to do."

"You always know what to do sweetie and Matty's fine. He feels better about his magic and he knows if he has a flare up again that it's okay, we're not going to send him away because we, you especially, understand what's happening. And as for his elbow, yes, he might have a little scar but I guarantee he'll be showing it off to Jake next time they see each other."

"Are you going to insist on shortening his name all the time?"

Imogen pecked the scrunched up nose and answered with a bright smile. "Yep, I think it's cute but more importantly he likes it, he told me last night. He also knows that you'll always call him Matthew and he's happy with that. He did like it when you called him your beautiful boy the other night."

"I thought he was asleep."

"I guess he was pretending. Anyway, he heard it and he liked it, especially because he knows you're not a nickname person. I think that makes it even more special for him."

Far from being upset that Matthew had heard, Constance was just happy that her words had caused such a positive reaction, "He is beautiful and very, very special. And he deserves something nice after a not so happy start to the day so shall we see what he fancies doing?"

Even after his fall their special little boy was still full of energy as was Imogen, who even after her run was still up for a walk later that morning. The weather was perfect for a stroll but this time they took another route. This one took them towards a nearby village where they stopped for lunch in a family friendly pub where Matthew used up even more energy in the adjoining playground. His day was really made when Constance did something she hadn't done in years and swung herself high in the air next to him while Imogen helped Matthew do the same.

Despite the amount of energy they all expanded, the levels were still running high when they got home.

"Okay, do you know the rules?"

Matthew grinned at Imogen, "Yeah, the cushions are safe but the floor is too hot so we have to stay off it."

"That's it. Ready? Go."

When Constance entered the sitting room after making a start on dinner she was greeted by the energetic pair who, in their sock clad feet were jumping on the scatter cushions that were distributed all over the floor.

"What is going on?"

"No, don't step on the floor, it's lava." Matthew pointed at the cushion nearest her feet. "That's a safe spot, stand here."

"Lava?" This was an entirely new game to the witch although she was overjoyed at the amount of fun that the duo seemed to be having. "And what exactly caused the floor to become lava? Have you been cooking again love?"

Imogen scowled playfully before picking up one of the cushions and throwing it at her smirking wife. "I'm trying. It's not my fault, it's that oven."

"And the toaster.", Matthew chipped in before hopping to the next safe spot.

"Matty, I thought you were on my side. You prefer when Constance cooks anyway."

"Yeah, you both do lots of great things but she's my mother who cooks and you're my mother who….." Matthew stopped suddenly as he realised one of his secret thoughts had slipped out.

"Hey." Forgetting the game Imogen was immediately in front of him, followed by Constance who couldn't keep the grin off her face.

"I know you're not my mothers, I'm sorry."

"Matthew, we know that this, well, what's happening with us right now can be a little confusing, we feel the same. But the fact that you even think of us that way, that makes us both unbelievably happy."

"Really?", he peered at Constance who was gently stroking his uninjured arm as she spoke.

Imogen answered for them both. "Really. Matty, we wish it was easier but we have to wait before we can do anything more. We have to see what Kerry and the adoption board say but that doesn't mean that we're not doing everything we can to keep you with us. We want that more than anything."

"So do I. I love being here. I, I…I love you." by now he was blushing profusely but needed to get the words out.

"We love you too little man. Don't we Sweetie?" Part of Imogen was scared to admit this, worried that they were jinxing themselves but they needed him to know that his love was returned, more than he could ever know.

Constance swallowed hard before answering, "We do. Very much."

It had been an emotional day but in many ways it cleared a tension that none of them had been aware of. They all knew how they felt about each other, how much they wanted this to be a permanent arrangement. It was just couple of days later, on one of Kerry's routine visits that the subject came up again.

"He's making plenty of friends. Our friends' children have stayed with us a couple of times and he gets on very well with them, especially Jake. He's made some friends in school too, we had some of them up here to play last Thursday which went very well. Apparently they think the castle is "cool" and there's been no sign of any bullying. In addition we're finding that since he's been here with others who have magical abilities he's a lot more accepting of his own powers, in fact he seems rather proud that he has them."

"I'm pleased to hear all of that. And school is going well?", the social worker was observing as Imogen helped Matthew with his homework.

"Extremely. His teacher says he is making great progress with his reading and writing. He struggles with maths a little but we're doing what we can to help him catch up. Imogen is great at trying to make things like that fun and he seems to be responding very well."

Kerry could see that in how Matt was learning different ways to count. Right now he was focused on a calendar and counting the weeks in a year.

"Okay, so we're in May now and you know Constance's birthday is soon don't you? And did you know our anniversary is the day before? Let's count the days."

"One, two….fourteen and fifteen days. Wow, that's soon. I can't wait." Mathew looked at the months that were laid out in front of him and asked a question. "When did I come here?"

"March the 15th.", Imogen pointed at the date. "How many weeks ago was that?."

"Eight."

 _"How can it have been eight weeks already?" It seems like just a couple of days",_ Constance pondered to herself, not noticing that Kerry was fidgeting slightly next to her.

Once his homework was done Matthew ran off to say hello to Amelia and Davina while his foster parents had a chat with Kerry. They were both keen to ask her what was next but in this case they were beaten too it.

"I know I said ten weeks.", Kerry bit her lip nervously. "But things have changed slightly and that's what I want to talk to you about."


	9. Two Weeks

**A/N: What does Kerry have to tell them? All will be revealed below.**

As Constance sank down slowly onto the kitchen chair she was aware of two things. The first was that her entire body was shaking, the second was that judging by the hand she was holding Imogen's was doing exactly the same thing.

"Please don't take him away from us."

Kerry felt terrible as she looked at the distraught pair across from her. "Oh no, that's not what I meant. I'm so sorry, let me explain a little bit better."

Imogen's heart was still hammering in her chest but as she listened to what they were being told it slowed down before bursting into excited flutters.

"Our borough sticks to the ten week placement rule and for good reason. But in this case I know that we have found the perfect home for Matthew, something I've already told my superiors. Based on what they've seen they completely agree. So does Matt, every time I speak to him he tells me how happy he is and how much he loves you both."

"We love him too.", Constance added quickly.

"I know you do.", Kerry smiled. "So that probably narrows down the options. I'm guessing stopping the placement is one you don't want to consider?" On seeing the two heads shaking rapidly she carried on. "That leaves us with two. You can carry on the foster placement for a longer period or, and there is no pressure for you to do this, you can start the process of gaining an adoption order."

There was no question which choice the elated couple were going to make.

"We want to adopt him, we want to adopt him as soon as possible. What do we need to do?", Imogen asked when she had calmed down enough to get the words out.

"I'm so pleased to hear that.", Kerry grinned at them both. "Okay, well officially you have to wait another two weeks to file the papers but that doesn't mean you can't start filling them out so I've taken the liberty of bringing them with me. Once they're in then you wait for the adoption order. That's the other reason why I wanted you to be able to get things started, one of our faster working judges is retiring at the end of June and his replacement is a far slower worker. I've spoken to him and he's said if he has the papers in by the start of June he'll process them immediately. What helps in this case is that Matthew has no known living relatives so it's unlikely that anyone will contest the adoption. That means you should have the order within a few weeks, much faster than most cases."

Constance couldn't believe what she was hearing. "And he'll be ours forever?"

"I think he already is but yes, legally and officially he will be your child. How are you feeling?"

"Amazed, overwhelmed and so lucky." Imogen could no longer sit still and had started pacing the room, running her fingers through her hair and grinning widely. "He'll be our little boy. Our son."

Kerry was feeling quite emotional herself as she watched Constance stand up and embrace her wife. The love between them both was always obvious but this was such a special moment and she felt very privileged to be witness to it.

"Well, this has certainly brightened up a boring Wednesday." The hug she received had grounded Imogen and she was ready to carry on their conversation. "What's next? Should we tell him or do you have to do that?"

"That's up to you but my advice would be to wait until you're sending the papers." Kerry explained her reasoning. "The last time he was due to be adopted they had received the paperwork and although he was young, he remembers that. I know because he's mentioned it to me. He remembers the big envelope sitting on the mantelpiece for weeks while they decided what to do and then seeing his prospective father putting it in the bin the day I came to collect him."

"Oh Matty." Although they already knew he had been disappointed in the past Imogen still felt her stomach sink at the thought of him hurting for a second.

"I know.", Kerry felt the same way. "But you know what, he now thinks that what happened was a good thing because it meant he got to meet you. He's going to be so thrilled when you tell him but we all know what he's like, he still tends to worry a bit even though he's very content. If you tell him once the papers are ready he won't have those weeks of being scared that something will happen and he'll be able to really enjoy the moment. But like I said, it's up to you."

Constance had been dwelling on the idea and turned to Imogen with a suggestion. "A couple of weeks would be perfect timing. We were already planning on taking him away during midterm for my birthday and our anniversary. This will be something else we can celebrate."

It seemed they had a plan. They also had a ton of paperwork which in all likelihood would take two weeks to fill in, not that they minded one bit.

After saying goodbye to Matthew, Kerry was escorted to her car by Imogen.

"If you don't mind me asking, I've noticed you refer to your anniversary being this month but your paperwork says you got married in August?"

Imogen smiled wryly, "We did but you'll also know we went through quite a lot in those months in-between, especially Constance. Once the trial was over we had a little ceremony here which meant more to us then our official one- so as far as we're concerned that's the date we're really married from."

"I'm sure it was very romantic."

"It was perfect."

Once Kerry had driven out of the gates Imogen raced back inside. Even though they weren't telling Matt just yet it didn't mean she couldn't give him the cuddles and squeezes she so badly wanted to.

"Ha ha, that tickles." Matthew's giggles could probably be heard throughout the entire castle but nobody minded in the slightest.

"Will I stop?"

"No." His foster mothers had been very affectionate since Kerry had left and that was making Matthew very happy. He was still on cloud nine after they tucked him in that night and he snuggled against his pillows with a big smile on his face and a bubble of happiness in his stomach.

Living with Constance and Imogen was the best, even better than he had hoped. They loved him and that had helped him to stop being scared of how he felt about them. Even though they had jobs and the girls in the school to look after, they still spent loads of time with him and made him feel special. Back in the home there were always lots of kids looking for attention from the social workers and sometimes he had felt left out. At the end it felt the same in his last foster home too, he had really liked having the other kids to play with but once his magic had started showing, suddenly they hadn't wanted to play with him anymore. His foster parents had tried to make them at the start but then it was like they were scared too and they weren't as kind anymore.

Both Constance and Imogen were always very kind. They looked after him really well, helping him with his homework, his reading and teaching him loads of other cool things about gardening and nature. Constance cooked lovely meals and he had tried lots of nice new food. Imogen, well she couldn't really cook hot food but she made good cereal and sandwiches. And she played lots of games with him and made bath time great fun.

And he had other people too, Amelia and Davina and most of the students were very nice and lots of fun. And they had magic too so he knew he wasn't alone. And he had made a lot of new friends, especially Jake who was the best friend he ever had. And there was Morgana as well, he loved having a pet and he was thrilled that she liked him. Well, that was what Constance had told him that the purrs, licks and when she sort of pressed his legs with her paws meant. That made him very happy because he really liked her as well.

He fell asleep after making the same wish he had made every night for the past few months. He wished that this could be his forever home with his forever parents, if he had that he would be the happiest boy in the world for the rest of his life.

While Matthew was making his wishes, Constance and Imogen made their way to their own bedroom where they attempted to make a start on the adoption paperwork needed to make those changes permanent.

At least that was the plan until Constance realised she was doing most of the work herself. Something she had noticed over the years was that even when Imogen was overwhelmed, either in a positive or negative way, her emotions tended to run high for a time before she crashed and as in this case, fell asleep.

"Sleep well my love.", the witch murmured, dropping a kiss on her partner's relaxed forehead before covering her more fully with the duvet.

Unfortunately sleep was not going to come so easily to Constance, excitement tended to have the opposite effect on her. She finished the document she was working on and then picked up her book from the nightstand. Although it was fascinating, tonight it wasn't enough to keep her attention. There were too many thoughts going through her mind and she needed to get them down. She swapped the novel for her notebook and started to write.

"Sweetie?" It was two hours later when Imogen opened her eyes and noticed that rather than sleeping alongside her as she should be, her wife was sitting up and writing frantically.

"Oh I'm sorry love, did the light wake you?"

Imogen sat up and shook her head, "No and I'm sorry I fell asleep on you. Are you okay?"

"I'm wonderful, that's why I've been writing, I want to remember everything about today, about how we're feeling. Is that silly?"

"No. I think that's a great idea, I know how much writing helps you and this is definitely a day to remember."

Constance put down the pen before shyly asking, "Would you like to read it?"

There was only one person she would ever share her private thoughts with and although it wasn't the first time, this was one of the most emotional entries she had ever written.

"Is it too much?"

"No." Imogen wiped her eyes after getting to the bottom of the page and carefully put the book down, "It's perfect and it's exactly how I'm feeling too, that's why I'm crying."

As they kissed, each could taste the salty tears that were running down Imogen's face..

"You should go back to sleep.", Constance whispered.

"Not tired anymore. I slept so deeply for those couple of hours that I feel I could run a marathon now."

"Is that what you want to do?"

"No. What I want to do depends on you. Are you tired?", Imogen smirked in the dim light.

"No."

"Well then, we have a choice. We can carry on with the paperwork or we could do something a little more active together."

"Hmmm, I should point out that I carried on with the paperwork after you had dropped off, I think that's enough for now. And I do seem to have rather a lot of energy."

With their choice made it wasn't long before their nightclothes had been removed and they were both naked and on their sides facing each other. And although they had plenty of energy, tonight by mutual agreement, things were moving slowly, their kisses were languid and their touches, though still purposeful, were teasing and soft.

"That's it, right there.", Imogen whimpered as finally she felt those perfect fingers slide in-between her legs. She loved those frantic moments when they simply had to have each other but she equally loved these slower sessions where it felt like they had all the time in the world to show their feelings.

As the moment was mirrored, Constance couldn't keep quiet and her groans of pleasure only added to the excitement they were both feeling. Touching Imogen always felt incredible but when they worked together like this it was perfection. Both had found a natural rhythm, starting with slower, gentle strokes before increasing to firmer moments as they edged towards orgasm.

"I'm almost there. Please, please don't stop." Imogen was right on the edge as she whispered the words.

Although she wasn't quite there yet, that didn't matter to Constance, she wanted to see her wife climax more than anything else at that moment.

"You're so beautiful. I think about you like this at the most inappropriate moments you know, think about how you look with my fingers inside you, think of those sounds you make. Yes, like that one. I love it, I love you."

The hot words being breathed in her ear just added to Imogen's pleasure as she shuddered through her release. She didn't forget her partner though, the words and the way her breath was catching told her that Constance was very, very close. Knowing just what to do she crooked her finger slightly while she bit down on her beloved's neck.

Her actions had the desired effect. Waves of pleasure were rushing through the witches body. Her head rolled back and her back arched as she savoured the moment, giving herself completely to to the woman she adored.

"Nobody could make me feel like you do." It was a few moments later and Imogen was just starting to recover from what they had just shared, though the memory of what she had just seen was definitely one she would be replaying several times in the future.

Constance smoothed the blonde hair back and smiled at the words that were being whispered in her ear. "I love you. Thank you for being so brave, for being my friend when I needed you most, then being my wife and my lover. That's what brought us here and brought us Matthew."

"You're the brave one. You were brave for so long and I'm just thankful that you let me into your life so we could both be happy."

They kissed again before Imogen decided to lighten the potentially heavy moment. "Come on, quick shower and then we both have some thinking to do."

"Do we?"

"We do. We have two weeks to plan just where we are going to go and how we are going to tell Matty the big news. We want it to be perfect don't we?

They both knew the truth, no matter how they told Matthew that he was going to be adopted, it was going to be perfect. But that didn't mean they couldn't make plans. In just two weeks they would have three things to celebrate and a very special person to celebrate with them.

And they couldn't wait.

 **A/N 2: So they are going to definitely adopt Matthew… or will it be that simple? Perhaps there are a couple of twists ahead….**


	10. We're Not In England Anymore

**A/N Thank you to plebs for your reviews on this, they've definitely encouraged me to keep going with this one. There's four chapters left after this and they'll probably go up over the next two weeks or so. Thank you all for reading.**

Two weeks were quickly taken up with planning and paperwork as well as normal activities. Then suddenly it was Thursday, May 26th, the day of Constance's forty-third birthday and the day after their third anniversary.

"Are you having a good day?", Imogen asked as they packed up the car.

"Of course I am, a lovely couple of days actually. Thank you again for last night."

As they were going away that day, Imogen had made the decision to combine their anniversary celebrations with a surprise birthday tea for Constance. In attendance had been Amelia, Davina, Anna, John, Carrie and Jake, along with Matthew of course who had been thrilled to have been a key part of the special occasions.

"You're welcome, sweetie. And we've got this weekend too, I can't wait."

"We're just missing one very important person."

A few seconds later, having said goodbye to Amelia and Davina, Matthew finally emerged with his bag filled with snacks and entertainment for their journey on his back.

"There he is.", Imogen laughed as she watched Matthew ran out of the building, slowed down to look around, then picked up the pace again when he saw Imogen waving at him.

"Happy birthday again." He wrapped his arms around Constance's waist and gave her a squeeze. "Did you really like your present?"

"Thank you and of course I did."

With the help of Amelia, Matthew had been busy crafting some very special gifts including a painted plant holder. He had been especially happy when Constance and Imogen had told him they would definitely be bringing their cards so they could display them on their special weekend away. What made this weekend even better was that it was an extra long weekend so they would be gone for four whole nights. They were going to stay in a hotel which was really exciting for a little boy who had never been on a holiday before

"Ready to go Matty?"

"Yes!"

Their journey was relatively uneventful with thankfully quiet roads for the most part. Even after stopping for lunch it was just a little after four when Imogen pulled up outside the hotel that she had booked for them.

"Well, what do you think?"

Constance smiled widely as she looked at the familiar views. "I think it's perfect love. Matthew, what do you think?"

Matt leant between the two front seats and peered at the coastline in front of him. "It's very nice but where exactly are we?"

He had slept for the latter part of the drive so had missed any signs signalling where they were going.

"We're in Wales little man, in a place called Tenby."

"Wow Wales? We're not even in England anymore, that's mega!"

Imogen was pleased that her choice had gone down well. Constance's mother had been from Wales and she had often visited this part of the country as a child. While she didn't have any family still living in the area she and Imogen had come here several times since their marriage and as well as revisiting the past, had created many new memories here. Those memories had been a major factor in choosing this location for their weekend away as both were hoping that the conversation they were going to have with Matthew was going to give them one more very special one to add to their collection.

They entered the hotel and once they were checked in, made their way upstairs. The family room Imogen had booked was clean and spacious with a large double bed as well as a single bed under the window.

"Wheee.", Matthew threw himself on top of the big soft bed and spread his arms wide. "This is huge."

"Oh dear." Constance put down her bag and winked at Imogen. "Matthew you must be very tired if you need to lie down straight away. Maybe we should go to bed now?"

"I'm not tired and we have to go out, it's your birthday and we're going for dinner in a really nice place. Let's get ready"

After unpacking their bags and freshening up it was time to walk to a nearby restaurant that they had been to before. It was thankfully just as they remembered with plenty of choices to suit a hungry boy.

They had debated telling Matthew about the adoption that night but had decided on a better plan. On reflection, it had been the right decision as he was already a little bit overwhelmed by the long drive and the excitement of being somewhere new. But that wasn't going to stop them from enjoying the special meal and the anticipation of what was to come the following day.

"Time to go home sleepy boy." A couple of hours later Imogen lifted Matthew from his chair and carried him out of the restaurant.

"Not sleepy.", he yawned in response. It was very hard to keep his eyes open, maybe he _was_ just a little bit tired?

Luckily the walk only took a couple of minutes and he was soon back in the room, cleaning his teeth with bleary eyes before crawling into bed.

"Thank you for making my birthday and our anniversary so special.", Constance whispered as she tucked him into the smaller bed.

"It was fun. Love you…"

"We love you too.", Imogen leaned down to kiss Matthew good night before holding out her hand. "Come on birthday girl, we have a big day ahead of us tomorrow."

This was the first time the three of them had shared a room and it was a slightly strange, though still very nice, sensation. After completing her nightly routine, Constance left the bathroom as quietly as she could before joining Imogen in bed.

"No hot birthday sex tonight, sorry.", Imogen giggled as she was swatted with a pillow.

"Shhhh." Constance looked over to make sure that Matthew was still asleep.

"It's fine, he's out for the count and I whispered. You made more noise shhh-ing me."

"Hmmm, well anyway, I don't mind, especially after the very nice time we had when we were alone this morning."

They settled down together, Imogen leaning back against her wife, sighing with happiness as she felt soft lips brush along the nape of her neck.

"I can't wait until tomorrow.", Constance confided.

"Me neither sweetie, let's try and get some sleep and it will be morning before we know it."

It took a little while but eventually, they both joined Matthew in sleep, each thinking about the next day and how they were going to break the news.

"Are you awake?"

"Hmmm, no….yes. What's wrong?"

Matthew grinned as he saw Imogen's green eye peering out from under the duvet. "Nothing, it's morning. I've been awake for ages reading my book in bed. I was going to get dressed but I thought I'd wake you first."

At this stage, Constance had also awoken and was listening to Matthew's account of his morning so far. To her surprise he was right, it was almost eight and most definitely time to get up, especially when they had such a busy day ahead.

Luckily both women were used to getting ready quickly and it was a little after 8:30 when they made their way down to breakfast. Matthew's eyes widened at the choices that were available but eventually, he narrowed it down to orange juice and some waffles with strawberries while his foster mothers enjoyed poached eggs, toast and coffee.

"I'm so full.", Matthew declared rubbing his stomach to emphasise his point.

"Oh that's good, we won't have to feed you until tomorrow so."

Mathew knew by now that Imogen was teasing him. "Well, you said we'll be walking lots so I'll probably be able to eat again later."

Constance watched the playful exchange and shifted a little in her seat. Judging by the skirt she was wearing, eating was possibly something she had been doing a bit too much of lately. She didn't want the realisation that she had gained some weight to ruin their weekend but she had already made a vow to herself to address it once they returned home.

"Shall we go?"

Their destination that morning was a well known botanical garden in a nearby town. Anywhere with a large variety of plants and flowers was always going to be of interest to Constance and Imogen but they were delighted to see how much Matthew was enjoying it as well.

"I like those flowers.. and those and oh…What's that?"

"Ahhh.", Constance answered him. "That's a venus fly trap. It's a very unusual plant because it eats insects. Do you see the leaves? They trap spiders and flies."

"But not humans?"

"No Matty. Most of the time insects eat plants but this is the opposite. It's just how nature works." Imogen remembered being fascinated by the plant when she was a child and she could see that Matthew was the same. "Maybe we can get one for the garden at home if you like it?"

"Yes please, Jake will think it's great."

Meanwhile, Constance had spotted a bench in a quieter part of the gardens and knowing that both she and Imogen were fit to burst, decided it was time to have a chat.

"I really like it here.", Matthew announced as he sat in between them on the bench. "This is a great holiday."

"We're glad you're having fun Matt." Imogen caught her wife's eye and on seeing the brief nod continued with what she wanted to say. "We're so happy you could come with us to share our anniversary and Constance's birthday but there's something else, something special we need to talk to you about."

Immediately Matthew shifted a little on the wooden seat. "Am I in trouble?"

"Oh no, not at all." Constance put her arm around him and kissed his hair, watching the worried look slip away as Imogen explained everything.

"No, this is a good thing. Well, we think it is and we hope you will too. Matty you know we love you and how much we want to adopt you. Well we have some news about that. Kerry has said we can start the process, so have the adoption board. The question is, do you still want to be our son?"

For a good minute, Matthew couldn't speak. Did he want to be Constance and Imogen's little boy? Forever? "You mean I can start being adopted? Forever adopted"

The verbiage wasn't quite right but even Constance wasn't going to correct him. "It's already started. We've filled in the paperwork and I have it in my bag ready to send as soon as you tell us we can. But we need you to tell us, is this what you want?"

"Yes. Yes. Yes." Not quite sure who to hug first Matthew spent a few seconds jumping up and down before hugging them both extra tightly. "I'm going to live with you forever.", he shouted loudly enough for the entire garden to hear him.

"You are little man. Now, we have to wait for the adoption order to come through, that might take a few weeks." Imogen saw the disappointed expression sweep across Matt's face but she knew what else she had to tell him would help cheer him up.

"But when that comes through we're going to have a very special day. We can go to the court with all our friends, everyone who was there last night, and you'll officially become our son. And then afterwards we thought we could have a big party with lots of food and music and you can invite your friends from school if you want to."

"Really?"

"Really.", Constance carried on. "And like Imogen said, you'll officially be our son then but that doesn't mean we don't already think about you like that. As far as we are concerned you are already our beautiful, special boy and we love you so much."

"I love you too. I already loved you but now I really, really love you."

They sat together on the bench for a few more minutes, each feeling happier than they could ever have imagined. Constance and Imogen were holding hands while Matthew sat between them, the smile on his face growing wider by the second.

"What are you thinking about?", Imogen asked after watching his wide range of expressions for a few moments.

"I'm thinking that I'm very happy. I'm also thinking I still don't know what I should call you. But I want to call you something special 'cos you'll really be my parents now."

"What ideas do you have?", Imogen prompted.

Matthew thought for a second. "Well, everyone calls their mothers Mummy and that's okay but I want something different for you." He turned to face Constance, "You know how Carrie and Jake call you Connie, well, I don't really like that."

Imogen covered her snigger with a cough, she knew someone else who wasn't too keen on it but put up with it because she didn't have the heart to ask the two children to stop.

"I understand.", Constance breathed a sigh of relief. She could put up with it occasionally but every day from her own child would have been a bit too much. "Let's take some time to think about it, shall we? I'm sure we'll come up with something."

"That sounds good."

With that important conversation complete, it was time to continue with their tour of the gardens before carrying out a very special task together.

It could have been anticlimactic for the most important letter they would ever send to be put with the others in the registered letters pile. But clearly they had gotten lucky with the older man who was working behind the counter. Clearly sensing that this was a very special document he winked at the little boy who was straining to see over the counter.

"You won't lose it will you?", Matthew knew he was being silly but he had to be completely sure.

"See that receipt there, that has my name on it so I will make sure nothing happens to your letter."

"Good. It's very special because the judge needs to get the letter so we can live together forever."

"Well in that case young man, I promise you that I will give it to the driver myself. We can't have a happy family not being able to live together for ever can we?"

"Thank you.", Imogen smiled at the kind man who had given Matthew the reassurance he so badly needed after his previous experience.

It was a very happy trio who left the post office, ready to carry on with their holiday. The paperwork was in safe hands and on it's way to the judge, now it was just a case of waiting for this next piece of the jigsaw to fall into place.


	11. I Don't Want To Know

The news that Matthew's adoption was in the process of being made official was unsurprisingly a source of great joy to an even wider group of people. Amelia and Davina were thrilled and even the seldom seen Miss Gimlet had popped her head into the staffroom to wish them all her congratulations.

Of course they weren't the only excited ones. Imogen had phoned Anna while they were away to give her the latest update and make arrangements for them all to meet up when they got home. It seemed ideal to combine their catch up with the celebratory meal Amelia had insisted on cooking for them when they arrived back to Cackle's from their mini break.

It was just after 5PM when Anna, John and the children knocked on the castle door. In her arms Anna was carrying her contribution to the festivities, her famous red velvet cake.

"You are the best friend in the world, you know that?", Imogen told her as they set the cake in the kitchen. Red velvet cake, especially this one was her absolute favourite and she was looking forward to indulging in some after dinner.

Anna smiled as her friend hugged her. "It's only a small gesture, I wish there was more I could do to show you how happy we are for you. You should have seen Jake's face when I told him, it was like Christmas morning. He has other friends of course but I've never seen him take a shine to anyone like he has with Matt, they really have become the best of friends haven't they?"

"They have.", Imogen agreed. "It's been great for Matty to have Jake as well. He told us that he was really happy about being adopted because not only did he get us, he got Morgana as a pet and Jake as a best friend."

"That's so sweet." Still smiling at the words Anna followed her upstairs to check on the children.

A short time later they were almost ready to eat. Matthew was running around in the courtyard with Carrie, Jake and Davina while John and Anna helped Amelia set out the food in the staffroom. It was only Constance who was nowhere to be seen.

"Sweetie?" Imogen had noticed her wife was missing and made her way upstairs to look for her. She could hear water running in the bathroom before the door opened, revealing a paler than usual witch. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, please don't worry. I was feeling a bit unwell after the car journey earlier but it's passed now."

It was true, the churning feeling in her stomach was gone and she was feeling much better now having cleaned her teeth and freshened up.

"Are you sure?" Imogen couldn't help feeling anxious, Constance getting sick was completely out of the norm, in fact she couldn't remember it happening since the anxiety of the trial.

"Positive love, in fact apart from being a bit hungry I feel marvellous now. What do you say we go downstairs and eat with our boy and our friends?"

"Our boy." Worries forgotten for now, Imogen reached up to push back the long dark hair. "He's going to be ours forever."

"He really is and if I know anything he'll will be wondering where we are."

She was right, Matthew had been looking for them and broke into a huge grin when they entered the room. "You're here, now we can start the party."

"This is only a test party little man, we'll have an even bigger one on your adoption day." Imogen took her seat next to him and ruffled his hair.

"You know more parties means more cake.", Jake announced from his spot at his friend's other side once dinner was over. "I'll help my Mummy make you another really great one."

"So this one isn't great?", Anna teased her son.

"It's really great. Can we cut it?", Matthew was dying to try the interesting looking red cake.

"I think we'd better." Imogen grinned. "Otherwise Davina might take it all for herself."

"Excuse me, that happened once and to be fair, that particular Halloween I was famished."

Still shaking her head Imogen started to cut the cake. She noticed that everyone apart from Constance took a slice but she wasn't too worried. Judging by how she was laughing with the children it looked like the sickness had passed. Besides, unlike her, Constance wasn't much of a sweet tooth and would often skip dessert in favour of a glass of wine. Although now that she thought of it, she couldn't recall the last time either of them had enjoyed anything stronger than a cup of tea.

Not that alcohol was required to have a good time as this night proved. There was lots of talking and plenty of games and when it came time for Anna and her family to leave the children were completely exhausted.

"Bye Jake.", Matthew whispered from the chair he was slumped on. "Bye Carrie."

"Bye Matty.", they both yawned. "See you at the weekend."

Although it had been a very enjoyable day, it had also been extremely long and Constance could see that Matthew was trying but failing to hide his yawns as he sat stroking Morgana's soft fur.

"I think it's time for a bath and bed."

"But I don't want today to be over."

Imogen gently lifted him up into her arms ready to carry him upstairs. "It's not over, things are only beginning and you need to be well rested. A nice bath, a story and then you'll have lovely dreams I promise."

There was no argument from Matthew who once his bath was over, crawled happily into bed with a sleepy grin on his face.

"Jake told me he's been wishing you'd really adopt me. He said he's really happy."

"Oh yes?", Imogen paused from her tucking in duties to give him a peck on the nose. "We can add him to our happy club then can't we?"

"Yeah. Are we going shopping tomorrow?"

There was one day of half term left and they had suggested to Matthew that they might go into the nearest city and pick him up some summer clothes. In the back of her mind Imogen was thinking that she might also start looking for something suitable to wear to the adoption ceremony. Shopping wasn't a favourite pastime for either her or Constance and if they could avoid going back to the crowded shops for a while that would suit them just fine.

"We are. Now are you ready for your story?"

Constance was only a couple of pages into the book they were reading when she received a soft nudge to her side.

"I think he'll appreciate it a bit more tomorrow and I think we could both do with a bit of sleep ourselves. Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine love, just a bit tired and looking forward to sleeping in a familiar bed."

Both women were asleep within minutes and slept right through until morning. Although his guardians weren't very keen, Matthew loved the idea of going shopping and as soon as breakfast was over he was guiding them to the car.

"This was easier than I thought.", Imogen confided as they stopped for a tea break.

"For you maybe.", Constance muttered.

As well as a variety of shorts, t-shirts and other summer items, they had happened on the perfect outfit for Matthew to wear to his adoption ceremony. The beige linen trousers and white shirt were smart but not fussy and he looked very dapper in his new clothes. Meanwhile Imogen had found a navy dress with tiny white flowers that she loved, leaving only Constance left to find something.

"That grey dress was really nice.", Imogen told her after they had ordered their lunch.

"It looked better on the hanger.", Constance bit her lip as she averted her gaze. It wasn't a lie as such, the dress _had_ looked good on the hanger but on her it had looked terrible. Namely because even though it was her usual size she could barely get the zip up and could only get it off with the help of some magic. She had stood in the changing room, too embarrassed to ask for a bigger size and took a long hard look at herself in the mirror. The evidence was right in front of her, she had put on weight, her stomach was bigger, her breasts heavier and was her face looking more full? In reality she had known this had been happening for the past few week or so but now it was even more apparent. It hardly seemed fair, she wasn't eating any more that usual and she was actually moving a lot more due to having a lively five year old around.

 _"_ _Must be the start of middle age spread."_ , she had told herself as she admitted defeat and left the shop. It seemed silly and trivial but she couldn't help feeling upset. Never in her life had she had issues with her weight, well not this type of issue. There had been a time when she had been too thin, the stress of her seemingly inevitable marriage to Hecketty Broomhead had completely diminished her appetite. But since gaining her freedom and falling in love with Imogen she had returned to her healthier eating habits and maintained a steady weight over the past two years, up until now that was.

"Are you okay?" Matthew had been watching Constance for some time and noticed that she didn't seem quite herself.

"Hmmm?"

"Are you okay? You seem sad.", he steeled himself to ask the question that was going through his mind. "Are you changing your mind about me?"

"What?" Constance was immediately drawn out of her forlorn mood. "No, never. Oh Matthew please don't ever think that. I was miles away, thinking about silly things. I'm sorry I made you think that even for a second."

As she hugged the relieved little boy, Constance made a resolution to herself, she would not let her weight gain get her down. Instead she would speak to Imogen later and focus on making sure she was being as healthy as possible. There was plenty of time left to find a dress and if she did have to go up a size it wasn't the end of the world, not when she had so much to be happy about.

Everyone was still in good spirits when they got back to Castle Overblow that afternoon. Their arrival coincided with the return of the students from their short breaks at home and the remainder of the evening was spent getting them settled in while of course still keeping an eye on Matthew. Luckily he was quite content to read his books and play with Morgana until it was time for Imogen to take him to bed.

"He's out for the count already.", Imogen told Constance when she joined them in his room a little while later.

After two kisses for the sound asleep child they went downstairs to the kitchens where Imogen put the kettle on and brought out the leftover cake from the day before.

"No thank you love.", Constance replied when offered a slice.

"Are you feeling ill again?"

"No." Constance sighed, she knew it was silly but she was feeling very uncomfortable. And she couldn't lie to Imogen. "But I think I need to avoid cake for a while don't you?"

"What do you mean?"

"I've put on weight. Maybe you haven't noticed or maybe you're just being kind but today I'm really feeling it. Trying on that dress didn't help, it barely went near me. I know it sounds selfish and I don't want it to take away from our happiness and I promise you I _am_ happy but from tomorrow I'm going to need your help to get myself back into shape. Not just for vanity's sake but I want to make sure I'm being a healthy influence on Matthew."

Imogen could tell that this was really bothering Constance and she felt terrible about it. Truly she hadn't noticed the weight gain, although now that it had been pointed out to her she could see a roundness that hadn't been there before. It didn't matter to her one bit, she thought her wife was gorgeous. Even with a little extra weight she was by no means unhealthy looking, in fact in the dim light of the kitchen she seemed to be glowing.

"Oh sweetie, you have nothing to be worried about. You are a wonderful influence on Matthew and you know how much we love you."

"Honestly, I do." Constance sat down in the kitchen chair and smiled as two tanned arms wrapped themselves around her shoulder and soft kisses were dropped onto her forehead. "But I still want to get this sorted out, so from tomorrow there will be a lot more salad and a lot less bread in my diet. And although I'll need your expertise, you needn't think I'm going to be taking up running or cycling, do you hear me?"

"I think I know you well enough by now to not even suggest those activities, But if you do want to lose a bit of weight I'll help in a way that you're comfortable with. I promise."

What she had said was completely true but as both drank their tea and she ate her cake Imogen found her mind wandering slightly. There was a thought there that she couldn't quite get rid of. It was still there as they got ready for bed, in fact it got even stronger as she watched Constance step out of her dress and change into her nightclothes.

 _"_ _She can't be."_

That night as she held her wife in her arms the same irrational thought kept coming into Imogen's mind. It was irrational because it couldn't be true. Could it? Irrational or not she couldn't keep her hand from wandering down to softly stroke the slightly rounded stomach during the night. She held her breath as Constance stirred slightly, afraid that if she woke her she would have to speak her thoughts out loud, possibly breaking the magic by doing so.

By the time dawn was breaking she knew she would have to do just that. The words were so loud in her head she felt that everyone in a ten mile radius could hear them. But simply saying the words would not be enough, she needed proof which is why she found herself waiting for the village chemist to open having told Constance and Matthew she was popping out to get the post. With trembling hands she took the package that was handed to her and gathered herself enough to make her way home.

"What's this?", Constance asked as she saw the paper bag that had been placed on the table in front of her. Classes were starting a bit later that morning and with Davina having offered to walk Matthew to school she was taking the opportunity to review her lesson plans.

In a barely audible voice Imogen answered, "It's a pregnancy test and I really think you need to take it."

"A what? Don't be ridiculous love, I'm not pregnant, I can't be."

"I'm not saying you definitely are Sweetie but think about it, you've got all the classic symptoms. At least this way we'll know for sure."

"No.", Constance was still staring at the bag like it was going to attack her as she stood up and backed away from the table.

"What do you mean no?" Imogen didn't know what reaction she had been expecting but it certainly hadn't been this. "We've got nothing to lose by taking a test."

In just a couple of seconds the fears and worries that Constance had been inadvertently closing her mind to crept right to the surface in the form of words tumbling from her mouth.

"Yes, yes we do. Don't you see, if I take that test we have everything to lose? I don't want to take it, please don't make me. I don't want to know."

"Sweetie, you're scaring me. Don't want to know _what_?" Imogen was immediately in front of her distraught wife, taking her hands and trying to calm her down. "I need you to breathe for me, remember your breathing pattern."

It took a moment but eventually Constance managed to put her anti-anxiety breathing technique into practice. She focused only on the hands that were holding hers and counting her breaths until eventually she could answer Imogen's question.

"I don't want to know that I'm pregnant."


	12. Packing My Bag

**A/N All is revealed.**

Imogen shook her head, not quite believing what she was hearing. "What do you mean? You being pregnant is what we've both wanted for almost three years and now it's a real possibility and you don't want to know? Help me out here because I'm really not following your thoughts."

When Constance raised her eyes to meet her wife's concerned gaze they were overflowing with tears. "Don't you see?"

"No sweetie, I really don't. Maybe I'm wrong, maybe you aren't pregnant but we have nothing to lose by doing the test do we?"

The witch ran her hands through her loose hair in anguish before she answered, "We _do_ , we have so much to lose."

By now Imogen was completely lost, "What?"

"Matthew. If I am pregnant we're going to lose Matthew."

"Lose Matt? Sweetie, what are you talking about."

With a flick of her hand Constance used magic to summon the paperwork that would answer the question. "Page three, read it"

It took Imogen a minute to skim through the information that had come in their official adoption pack but eventually she found what had her love in so much of a panic.

"Okay, the first thing is you need to calm down. It says that they generally don't consider couples who are pregnant or going through IVF for adoption but that doesn't mean we're going to lose Matty. We're pretty far along in the process and he's bonded so well with us, that has to count for something. And we don't even know for sure that you are pregnant yet. I think you should take the test, then we'll know and we can look at the options we have."

It was clear that Imogen was trying to be reassuring but Constance wasn't convinced, it all seemed too perfect. Still, she was right about one thing, they had to know.

"Fine, I'll take the test."

She picked up the packet and walked towards the bathroom. A moment later there was the sound of running water before the door opened.

"I can't wait in there for three minutes."

Imogen immediately wrapped her ams around the shaking woman, trying to convey all the love she could in that simple gesture. "Whatever happens you know I love you don't you?"

"I know you do and I love you too, I'm just scared love."

"There's nothing to be scared of, I promise you. Hang on, I'm going to check the test."

Although only a minute had passed, patience wasn't a virtue that Imogen always possessed and she couldn't wait any longer.

"There's no point it…."

Constance's words were halted as she saw the stick being held up in front of her. The blue cross was practically glowing giving a clear indication of the result.

"That came up too soon, it must be faulty."

Imogen immediately had a solution. "Good job I bought two then."

The second test was exactly the same. Both had given strong positive reactions, leaving little room for doubt.

"Sweetie, how are you feeling?" Imogen was a frantic mix of emotions, the overwhelming one currently being concern for her wife whose hair she was gently stroking.

"I don't know." There was nothing but honesty in Constance's reaction. So many times she had planned this scenario but it had never been like this. In her mind it had always been nothing but joyous, not this strange feeling that she had done something wrong by conceiving.

"Well my number one priority is looking after you. Give me a few minutes, I'm going to ask Amelia to take your classes and I'm going to book a doctors appointment for you. Then I'm going to phone Kerry and ask if we can meet her to know where we stand as soon as possible. Okay?"

"Yes." Constance whispered, reluctant to leave go of the hand in hers "Things will be alright won't they?"

"I promise." Imogen just hoped that this was a promise she could fulfil.

Fifteen minutes later the doctors appointment was booked, as was a meeting with Kerry later that morning.

"Is there anything else we can do?" Constance was very rarely ill and Amelia couldn't help feeling concerned.

"You're doing plenty by taking her classes and picking Matt up from school. Thank you." Imogen hated feeling that she was keeping something from their friend but now was not the time for any announcements.

Once the arrangements had been made the couple made their way down the back staircase so they could avoid the students and walked out to their car. As Imogen drove she initially tried to keep the conversation light but eventually she had to ask what was playing on her mind.

"Did you know?"

"No." Constance shook her head emphatically. "When you put the test in front of me everything fell into place but up until then I had been ignoring the signs. Since we stopped trying I haven't been keeping much of a track on my period, it's only now I realise I definitely didn't have one last month. I told myself I was eating too much and just feeling a bit out of sorts from the weight gain. Does that sound very silly?"

"Not at all sweetie." By now they had pulled up outside the surgery meaning Imogen could reach for the pale hand again. "I guess in some ways your body was playing tricks on you, just like mine was."

At that comment an enormous wave of guilt swept over Constance. She had been so wrapped up in what this could mean in regards to Matthew she had forgotten what else it meant.

"Shh." Imogen murmured, seeing where her partner's thoughts were going. "Let's see what Dr. Fletcher has to say."

The first thing Dr. Fletcher did was confirm the pregnancy. "Yes, you most certainly are. Congratulations and let me just say, in this case I'm very glad that the tests were wrong. I did say nothing was impossible, Imogen, I think you've proved that."

"Thank you.", Imogen answered. "Is everything okay?"

"It looks to be. Constance, the sickness you mentioned is normal and doesn't always have to be in the morning but let me know if it gets any worse We'll do a scan in around two weeks. From what you've said you seem to be around ten weeks but the scan will tell us for sure. I'll arrange the appointment but apart from that there's not much to do apart from take in the news."

Still feeling rather shellshocked, the two women left the doctor's office and made their way back to the castle where they found Kerry waiting for them. While part of Constance would have liked more time to process the news the other part of her was glad to see the social worker, knowing she needed to get this conversation out of the way.

"I hope I'm not too early, I came straight from another appointment. Are you okay, you both look really pale?"

After leading her to the mercifully empty staffroom and putting the kettle on, Imogen started to tell the story.

"We found out today that Constance is pregnant."

"Oh.", Kerry tried to keep the shock from showing on her face, unfortunately she wasn't successful.

"See, I told you, I said we were going to lose him." The panic was back as Constance saw the reaction.

"No, wait a second." Kerry took a breath before proceeding, "Firstly, let me say congratulations, I know you were trying for quite some time before you considered adoption."

Imogen would have liked to have enjoyed the well wishes but right now there were other things pressing on their minds. "We were but we never thought this would happen. As you can imagine it's come as a bit of a shock, mainly because we don't know where we stand now when it comes to Matthew. We know that you have rules but we love him so much, please don't let this stop us from adopting him. Please."

"Hang on a second.", Kerry was really confused now. "You said this came as a shock. How? Surely you were still trying, going through IVF or using a donor?"

At the question Constance and Imogen shared a glance. While they hadn't lied on their application, they also had not gone into details around how they had previously tried to conceive knowing that not everyone understood magic. Now, it looked like they didn't have a choice.

"It came as a surprise because the baby has been conceived naturally, we are both it's parents." Constance tried to explain as simply as she could. "Witches have the power to conceive with their partner, regardless of their gender."

"You mean you….?", Kerry stared at Imogen.

"Yes but it wasn't that simple. The partner has to be fertile, something many tests said I wasn't although Constance was. We thought this was impossible but apparently not. Kerry, we know this may sound strange but we're telling you this because we trust you, we know you might not understand but this is our reality. We are having the baby that we so desperately wanted but we need you to tell us, can we keep the son who we want just as much?"

Kerry sat in silence for a moment trying to process what she had been told. Never had she imagined this was a possibility but she was already learning from these two that there were many things she did know were possible.

"Okay, well, I suppose that you couldn't really have written your true situation on the application form. As for where you stand now, let me explain our stance. We don't often encourage adoption when there is another baby on the way because we worry that the adoptive child won't get the attention they need." She held her hands up, preempting the response. "I know what you're going to say but I'm just trying to explain. But having said that we can make exceptions, mainly where natural conception has occurred. You're not the first couple who thought they couldn't have children and found out they were wrong during the adoption process."

"Does that mean….?"

"It means I will have to let the board know but I know that they'll take my advice here. Matthew has found his family and without sounding harsh, he'd be unlikely to find another who could deal so well with his magical abilities. Let me make a quick call so there is no uncertainty. Constance, I especially don't want this to be causing you any undue stress, not in your condition. Is there a phone here I can use?"

Constance directed her to the phone in Amelia's office, knowing that the principal had gone to collect Matthew from school. Then she made her way back to wait in the staffroom.

"That feeling is back.", Imogen whispered as they cuddled close to each other. "That good feeling. Give it a minute and you'll see that I'm right."

She wasn't completely sure yet but Constance was certainly feeling more positive. Could it be that they were going get so much more than they ever dreamed possible?

It took a bit longer than a minute but soon Kerry was back with a big smile on her face.

"Can we still adopt him?", Constance asked.

"Yes. I spoke to my supervisor and he agrees that Matthew is best with you, the baby doesn't change that. From our perspective this adoption is still going ahead. In fact I also rang the judge's office, he has your paperwork and is working on it as we speak, hopefully we'll have a date later today."

"You said from your perspective?", Imogen asked.

"Yes, you may need to consider telling Matt though, I know it's early days but it's better to be honest with him. But knowing him as I do I don't think you'll have a problem. He was always very good with the younger kids in the home and I think he'll love being a big brother. No doubt he'll have questions as always but I think he'll be okay."

It was as the adults were talking that the little boy in question made his way down the corridor. Amelia was hanging up his jacket and had told him to go down to the staffroom to get some fruit as a snack, she'd follow him shortly. He noticed that the door was slightly ajar and he could hear voices coming from inside the room so he stopped for a moment, not wanting to interrupt any school stuff.

"And you said you're ten weeks pregnant?"

"Yes, we think so but apparently the scan will confirm the baby's due date."

Mathew recognised Kerry's voice first, then Constance's but what they were saying didn't make sense. A baby? Constance was having a baby? She and Imogen were going to be someone else's parents? So that must mean they didn't want him anymore, he'd have to go back to the home.

Heart beating rapidly in his chest, Matthew turned on his heel and ran upstairs to his bedroom. _"I'm not going to cry._ ", he told himself as he blinked back hot tears. _"I'm a big boy now. I can't cry."_

Meanwhile Amelia had reached the staffroom, surprised to see three women but no sign of Matthew. "Perhaps he went upstairs? I'll check."

"I'll go.", Constance was already up.

"I'd better leave anyway.", Kerry also stood. "I have another appointment but I'll call later to check on things."

Amelia wasn't sure what was happening but she knew there was something afoot. She just hoped it was nothing bad.

Having seen Kerry out, Constance and Imogen climbed the stairs to Matthew's room. After tapping on the door they opened it to find a busy little boy trying to pack all his possessions in a tiny carrier bag.

"Hey there little man, what's going on here?", Imogen tried to keep her voice calm as she took in the scene.

Mathew shrugged, "I'm packing my bag so I'm ready to go back to the home with Kerry. Is she waiting downstairs?"

Constance's heart sank as she heard the words. "Why do you want to leave? What's happened?"

"Cause you're having a baby, I didn't mean to but I heard you talking. I know that means I have to go but thank you for looking after me.", at this point his voice broke. "I had a great time with you."

Imogen could see that there was a massive misunderstanding at play here, she just hoped they could help Matthew see how wrong he was. "Matty, come sit next to us on the bed please. We need to talk."

Once they were all seated she carried on talking. "Constance _is_ having a baby, well we are but that doesn't mean we don't want you. For us this changes nothing about your adoption or the love we have for you."

"It doesn't?"

Constance took over, "Not at all. You are our beautiful boy and we are so proud to be adopting you. We need to be honest Matthew, we only found out about the baby today so this is very new to us too. One of the first things we wanted to do was make sure we could still adopt you. That's why Kerry was here, she says we can but really it's down to you."

She paused for a second, remembering how Matthew had told them about times where he had felt left out or overwhelmed by having other children around. "There will be a baby in our family, a family that we very much want to also include you because we love you. And we want you to be our son just as much as we did before we knew about the baby. The question is, do you still want us?"

Matthew's face lit up as he heard the words. "I can still be your son?"

"You sure can", Imogen sighed with relief at the change in his demeanour. "If that's what you want."

"It is. I didn't want to go back to the home, that's what made me sad, not that you were having the baby. I don't know any babies but I know I'll like this one. And I love you loads, I just got a bit scared."

"You're not the only one.", Constance pulled him onto her lap and kissed his forehead. "This has been a rather unusual day and we haven't even had lunch yet."

"Is that a hint?", Imogen teased. "You are eating for two now."

"We're having a baby.", Matthew stated, "A real baby. Wow. Can we tell Davina and Amelia?"

"We are little man and yes, I think we'd better. I know Amelia's been worried about you sweetie. Are you alright to tell them?"

Constance knew that it would have been unfair and unrealistic to have Matthew keep such a big secret and she also knew that the two older women would be delighted with the news. She was correct.

"Oh my goodness, this is completely unexpected but simply marvellous.", Amelia couldn't remember the last time she had gotten such a surprise. She was also very relieved that it wasn't illness that had gotten Constance to visit the doctor, this was a far better reason.

Davina was also delighted, at least that's what her high pitched squealing seemed to convey.

"She's happy.", Matthew told them as he tucked into his sandwich. "Just like me."

The rest of the day passed by in a blur. There was a call from Kerry who was relieved all was okay with Matthew. She also confirmed that their date for the hearing would be June 20th, a day that couldn't come soon enough for anyone. Between the excitement of the baby combined with finally getting his adoption date, not to mention his upcoming party, Matthew was fit for nothing by 7PM and crashed as soon as he was under the covers.

It was only when she was in bed herself, waiting for Imogen to finish in the bathroom that Constance truly had a moment to take in everything that had happened that day.

"Hey, what's wrong sweetie?", Imogen had entered the bedroom to find her wife in tears again.

Constance dabbed her eyes and gave a watery smile, "I'm sorry, I'm being silly again but it's just, well I wish this morning had been different."

"Different how?"

"From when we first started trying for a baby, I used to imagine how I would tell you. There were lots of scenarios, we'd take the test together in some. In others I'd have an inkling and I'd take the test and tell you in a perfect way, over dinner or walking on a beach somewhere. This morning I was so shocked and frightened about Matthew that I squandered what could have been a special, intimate moment. I feel guilty that I haven't shown this baby enough love and I feel terrible that I didn't think more about you, about how you must be feeling after thinking that this would never happen. I'm so pleased that Matthew is happy about the baby, and Amelia and Davina but I feel we didn't get that experience, just the two of us. Well three of us I suppose."

Imogen knelt on the bed before leaning down for a fleeting kiss. "Our baby will always know exactly how loved it is so get that thought straight out of your mind. And as for our own moment, we can have it now."

"How?"

"Tell me you're pregnant."

Despite her feelings, Constance couldn't help laughing, "But you know already."

"Tell me you're pregnant with my baby. Tell me that the doctors were wrong, tell me that together we made a miracle."

It may have seemed a silly or redundant exercise but right there in that moment, there was nothing that Constance wanted to do more.

"Imogen, my love, I can't believe I'm finally getting to say these words to you, I'm pregnant. We're having a baby."

"And I could not be happier." As it had in the early hours of that morning when this reality was still just a fantasy in her mind, Imogen's hand came to rest on their baby's home and she addressed the tiny embryo that was forming in there.. "Not just me, you have two mothers and a big brother that are going to love you so much and can't wait to meet you. We've waited a long time already but that's okay, we can wait a little longer."

Crying yet again, but this time with happiness, Constance brought her wife into a more lingering kiss. "We can because our perfect family is certainly worth waiting for."

 **A/N 2. Two more chapters left, Matthew's adoption ceremony is next and then an epilogue. Thank you for reading, I hope you're all still enjoying.**


	13. Adoption Day

"Well…"

"Indeed….."

It was July 20th, Matthew's adoption day and true to form, the day that Constance and Imogen's first scan had been scheduled for. Luckily the scan was first thing in the morning and the adoption ceremony was at 2PM. Mathew had gone to the barbers with John and Jake to ensure he looked his very best for his big moment. Meanwhile his soon to be permanent parents paid a visit to the hospital. Their appointment was just over and they were currently sat in the car, taking in what had happened.

"Are you alright?", Imogen asked

Constance turned around in the passenger seat, the smile on her face said it all, "I am more than alright love. What about you?"

"I think this is the most overwhelmed, in a good way that I have ever felt in my entire life. Were you expecting it?"

There was a slight shrug from Constance, "No, but when I look back things make a lot more sense now don't they?"

Imogen agreed, she also had something else on her mind, "What do you think Matthew will say?"

"Oh, based on a couple of things he's said, I think he'll be a very happy little boy."

"Twins.", Imogen shook her head in wonder as she navigated out of the car park. For all that time they thought one child was an impossible dream, now they had Matthew and by the end of the year there would be not one but two babies in their family.

What Constance said about looking back was completely true. It certainly explained the very strong test result as well as the fact that Constance seemed to be showing so much at such an early stage. The good news was that all was looking perfect so far for their non-identical twins. As for their mothers, they were also doing well- if not a bit shellshocked.

It didn't take long to get home and as they pulled into the drive they could already see Matthew waiting eagerly at the door.

"Nice hair little man.", Imogen laughed as he showed off his neatly trimmed locks.

"Thanks, the barbers was fun. But what about the baby? Did you get a picture? Can I see?"

By now Constance had emerged from the car, reaching into her bag to get the requested image as she did so. "Here you go. Do you see the baby right there?"

As she and Imogen exchanged a glance Matthew studied the picture.

"I think so… but what's that over there?"

Imogen crouched down next to him to answer, "That's the other baby."

Matthew may not have reacted with words immediately but his actions said it all. Once he took in what Imogen had told him he characteristically jumped into the air.

"Two babies? Two babies?"

"Can we take it you're happy?", Constance laughed as he finally stopped moving long enough to be hugged.

"Yeah, this is really mega. I told you that you should have two babies. This is great. Can we tell everyone?"

Imogen had already been thinking about that. "We need to hurry up and get ready for your ceremony now so rather than rush it, why don't we tell them later? You can tell everyone when they're all together."

"Okay.", Matthew nodded, thrilled at the chance to tell everyone. "Let's get ready, we can't be late for the judge."

Just over an hour later it was almost time to leave. John, Anna and their children had gone on ahead having been told they'd be filled in on the scan later. Davina and Amelia were coming from the castle and would meet them at the court house. Constance was putting the finishing touches to her make up when Imogen came up behind her and placed a kiss on her head.

"You look beautiful. I'm glad you went back and got that dress."

Constance gave a wry smile into the mirror. "Well, the maternity version." She didn't mind too much though, she had also liked the grey dress they had seen on their shopping expedition and was glad that she had found one that she could comfortably wear.

"Doesn't matter, it still looks amazing on you." Imogen's smile broadened as they locked eyes. "You know, based on the dates they gave us today I've been doing some calculations."

"Oh really?"

"Oh yes. From what I can figure out there's a good chance the babies were conceived around the time Matty came to live with us."

Constance did some quick maths of her own. "You could well be right. It would be rather fitting for us as well wouldn't it? Everything happening at once."

"Kind of perfect when you think about it isn't it?", Imogen whispered

"Very perfect."

Their moment of reflection was halted by Matthew who was very anxious that they get going. "Come on, the judge will be waiting for us."

There was no need to worry, they arrived at the courthouse with plenty of time to spare, especially when they discovered there had been a slight delay with the case before them.

The whining voice caused everyone to smile slightly.

"Not long now.", Amelia patted Davina's arm while smiling at Imogen who was sat opposite her with an amused look on her face. It wasn't lost on anyone that five year old Matthew, who had more at stake today than anyone, was a lot more composed than the much older and allegedly wiser Miss Bat.

Constance too was watching the exchange with pride. She knew that everyone who was there with them, Amelia, Davina, Anna, John, Carrie and Jake were just as excited as they were. Matthew had become a part of all their lives and she was overwhelmed at the love that had been shown to him, not just today but everyday since his arrival. As much as both she and Imogen absolutely adored him they both knew he needed more people in his life, as would the babies. There was no extended family on either side but that didn't matter, not when they had these wonderful people who cared about them all so much.

"Constance Hardbroom, Imogen Drill, Matthew Ross?". The door opened and the clerk stepped out, smiling at everyone waiting outside. "Please come in."

They followed her into the room where they found Kerry waiting alongside the judge who was dressed in his official court robes.

"Welcome." Judge Morris smiled at the two women and the excited looking boy as they approached his podium while their friends took their seats. "Matthew, this is a very special day and I'd like to thank you for allowing me to be a part of it."

"That's okay.", Matthew whispered. He thought the judge would be really scary but he seemed very nice. That didn't mean he was going to let go of Imogen and Constance's hands though, he wanted to be as close to them as possible during the ceremony.

It took a couple of minutes to read through the official court papers. The judge made sure to use language that Matthew could understand so he felt included in everything and asked him questions throughout the process.

"I understand that we're going to change your last name Matthew?"

"Yes Sir. I'd like my name to be Matthew Hardbroom please."

Constance felt Matthew squeeze her hand at this. It hadn't been her idea, in fact it had been Matthew who had shyly asked one day if he'd have a new surname, maybe something more magical. Even though Imogen had kept her own name after their marriage she had been in no doubt that Hardbroom was the perfect surname for their little boy and wholeheartedly agreed with Matty's decision.

"That has a lovely ring to it. Well, your paperwork is all done but before I give you the adoption certificate is there anything you would like to say?"

Imogen nodded before speaking on behalf of them both, "Matty, we love you very, very much and we both feel so blessed that you have come into our lives and we can hardly believe that we are lucky enough that you are going to live with us forever. Thank you for letting us be your parents."

"Can I say something?" After getting a nod from Judge Morris, Matthew turned to face his parents.

"I used to get scared that I would have to live in the home forever 'cos I was bad, 'cos my magic was scary. But then I met you and started to feel different. I'm glad that I got to come and live with you because I love you loads. And I have Morgana and new friends like Jake and Carrie and Aunties like Amelia, Davina and Anna and Uncle John and I love them too but I love you the most." He grinned at them both before carrying on with his speech. "And I'm going to love the new babies just as much as I love you."

There was a gasp from their assembled friends as they took in what Matthew had said.

"Babies?", Amelia was fairly confident she had heard him correctly but needed to make sure.

"Babies. Plural.", Imogen confirmed. "Fraternal twins, official due date mid December."

Neither she nor Constance minded in the slightest that their son had chosen to share the news. In fact they were very proud that he was so willing to share his big moment with the babies.

There were hugs and kisses from everyone while Judge Morris looked on with a smile. Once everyone had sat back down he carried on with the ceremony.

"Well Matthew, from what I can see you have the makings of a very good big brother as well as an excellent son."

"He already is an excellent son and yes, he's going to be a marvellous big brother." Constance smiled towards the judge.

Matthew stood up as straight as he could and beamed proudly at his parents. "And now everyone knows that I'm your son and your my Ima and my Mam forever."

Although after many conversations they had decided on what he should call them several days beforehand, Matthew had wanted to save his mother's special names until just the right moment and this seemed ideal.

Ima was an idea that had come from Davina who told them that it was the Hebrew word for "Mother". The fact that it linked to Imogen's name made it even more perfect and they were all very pleased from it.

Mam may have sounded like a more unusual choice from Constance but she had told Matthew that as a young girl that is what she had called her own mother and what she remembered hearing Eleanor call her Grandmother. Once he heard that he knew it was exactly what he wanted to use but had only said it in private up to now.

"We certainly are." Constance couldn't keep the smile off her face as they hugged each other tightly.

With the last of the paperwork signed it was time for more hugs and to pose for some photographs before going back to their house for the celebratory party.

"Will you come?", Matt gave Kerry his best pleading look. He'd had a few social workers in his time but she was definitely the nicest.

"Of course I will. You know I'm very happy for all of you, including the babies."

Constance caught the younger woman's eye and smiled. "We know and we want to say thank you for everything you've done for us."

Kerry shrugged, "I was just doing my job but you're very welcome."

Just over an hour later the now official family and their guests were back at the house and with the arrival of some of Matthew's school friends, his party was well and truly underway. It was almost time to eat but before they did that, Constance and Imogen had something very special for their boy.

"A present for our son.", Imogen whispered as she manoeuvred the gift into the hallway.

"There's no question about it now, he is our son and we have some serious celebrating to do, starting with giving him this. Let's call him."

Matthew was laughing as his Ima guided him out into the hallway with her hands covering his eyes. "I can't see."

"That's the point. Anyway we wanted to give you a little present to show you how much we love you and how happy we are that this day has come. We love you Matty.", with that Imogen removed her hands allowing Matthew to see his gift.

"A bike? For me?" He was delighted with the green bike and helmet that was presented to him. There was just one thing. "I don't know how to cycle it."

Constance had an answer for that. "There's a long summer and plenty of time to teach you, not that I think you'll need much time, you'll be cycling in no time."

Jake was also thrilled with his friend's gift. "You can come for bike rides with me and my Dad once you learn. And I can come with you and Auntie Immy."

"And me and Carrie.", Anna added. She was feeling very emotional as she took in the joyful scenes but she couldn't be happier for their friends, they truly deserved all that was happening to them. She caught Imogen's eye and winked, thinking back to a few years previously when her old friend had contacted her out of the blue having lost everything she had in the world. She had come a long way since then and without question, what she had now was far more than she had ever lost before.

The party was a complete success. Matthew and his friends had a great time playing games and admiring his Venus Fly Trap. Later on the meal Constance had prepared with Amelia's help was enjoyed by all. For dessert there was Matthew's new favourite red velvet cake which Anna had decorated especially for the occasion.

"Happy Adoption Day Matthew.", he read before hugging Anna. "Thank you, this is a very happy day."

It was late that evening when the party started to wind down. Kerry had left first, they would see her again of course as she would still pay a few visits to make sure all was well. Matthew's school friends were all collected shortly after and then it was time John and Anna to go leaving Carrie and Jake behind for a sleepover.

"Are you sure about this?", John chuckled as he saw the three children playing a spirited game of Matthew's favourite "'The floor is lava'.

"We are.", Constance answered. "Soon we'll have three all the time so we need the practice."

Once they said goodbye to their children Anna and John drove home, leaving just Amelia and Davina to say goodbye.

"Thank you for allowing us to be a part of your special day. We could not be happier for the three of you." Amelia gave each of them a hug as she spoke.

"Yes, we've had a lovely time. And congratulations again, you deserve all of this joy, both of you."

"Thank you Davina.", Constance hugged the two women who had been part of her life for many years now. Circumstances had meant she hadn't always been the easiest person to live and work with and many would have held that against her, even after the truth came out, but neither of them ever had. They had never been anything but kind and supportive and even though Davina was a bit highly strung and sometimes Amelia was too laid back for her own good, she loved them dearly.

The sleepover went without a hitch. All three children had exhausted themselves and there was no fussing when it was time to go to bed.

"Look at us, super parents.", Imogen giggled as she was held by her wife in their bed a few hours later.

"I hope so.", Constance replied with a kiss. "I really hope so."

It seemed Matthew agreed with the assessment as the following day when he had his first cycling lesson he had something to say.

"This feels really good. Being your son I mean, I like it a lot."

"That's good.", Imogen laughed. "Because we like it too. Lots and lots."

Meanwhile back at Cackle's, two women were reflecting on the events of the past few months and speculating about what was to come.

"Just imagine.", Amelia pondered over a slice of cheesecake. "This time last year they thought that they may never have a child. Now they have a son and two daughters on the way."

"Daughters?", Davina asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well yes, statistically as two women they are 99.8% likely to have a girl, girls in this case, you know that."

Davina shook her head and reached for her lemonade. "I do but I know who we're talking about here and have a very strong feeling. If anyone is going to fall into that .2% it's those two."

Amelia rolled her eyes and poured herself a cup of tea. If she had a penny for every time Davina had a "strong feeling" that never manifested in anything she could have retired long ago. However there was no point in causing an argument over it.

"Well then, we'll just have to wait and see if you're right won't we?"

 **A/N One more chapter set a few months ahead to tie off the loose ends.**

 **Also something I wanted to address because it's been on my mind. I know there are some similarities between this and my "A Life" stories but in many ways I think of Charades as being a kind of AU to that world and I have made some changes.**

 **I am very protective of my Drill Girls though and they will always be my first choice to write about which I why I stayed away from Mummy and Mama for what Constance and Imogen would be called etc. and this probably won't be a world I come back to after this story. That said I have enjoyed researching and writing about this adoption journey a lot.**

 **This story originally came from a prompt I saw on Tumblr and thought it was worth exploring**

 ** _Person A and B have spent years trying to conceive. After failing numerous times they finally decided to adopt. Once all the paperwork has been approved your OTP celebrates with a night of fun. 4 weeks after they bring their child home from the orphanage, Person B finds out they're finally pregnant. Bonus: If their adopted child is older than a baby, they get really upset and thinks they're going to bring them back to the orphanage now the they are going to have a 'real child'._**

 **Sorry for the long note :) thank you for reading.**


	14. The Completed Jigsaw

**Five Months Later**

"They're here, they're here."

With little regard for the cold December weather, Matthew ran out of the main castle door towards the car containing his family.

His family, it still felt so good to say that and know that it was forever. And just under a week ago that family had gotten even bigger, he was now a big brother and was dying to really get stuck into his new role.

"Hey Matty." Imogen was waiting outside the car with her arms outstretched.

"Hi Ima, All the girls are waiting to see the babies. I've been telling them how cute they are but they really need to see them, but _I_ need to see them again first." With that he hopped into the car and waved at the two bundles in the back seat. "Hi, it's me your big brother Matt, remember? Well we're going to live together all the time now- it's going to be great."

Constance, who was sat in the back with the twins felt herself beaming at the declaration and what it meant. They were home. Her pregnancy had not been without its challenges, especially in the third trimester when the doctors had been worried that the babies would arrive a bit too early. This had resulted in six weeks of bedrest which had seemed to do the trick as the twins had made an appearance at an acceptable thirty five weeks. Thankfully they had been perfectly healthy but had spent a few days under observation to ensure that their body temperatures were regulated.

That morning they had received the happy news that it was time to go home. Imogen and Matthew had been over the moon when they had heard. Although Imogen had stayed at the hospital for a couple of nights and there had been plenty of visits, they also had Matthew to consider and even sleepover's at Jake's had not made up for not having both of his mothers with him. And the babies of course.

Rather than go straight to their home where they would be spending the majority of their maternity leave, they had opted to stop at the castle so the students could see the twins. Amelia had gone with Imogen to pick up the new arrivals and after helping Constance out of the car had gone to make sure the girls were all assembled.

"Ready sweetie?", Imogen asked as she handed one baby bundle to her wife.

"I think so.", Constance murmured adjusting the two white hats.

"I'm ready anyway." Matthew announced with a big grin. "Come on, let's say hi."

Sure enough as they walked into the castle, every student was waiting for them. Some were lined along the corridor while the others stood on the stairs craning their necks to get a look.

"On behalf of all of us, we'd like to say congratulations.", Amelia announced as the family walked through the corridor. "We have some gifts for you in the staffroom but for now would you like to make the introductions?"

Imogen shifted slightly so everyone could see the tiny baby in her arms. "This is Ella.", she announced proudly.

"And that's Joey.", Mathew added, pointing to the baby his Mam was holding.

"Eleanor and Joseph you mean.", Constance rolled her eyes but in a playful way. She had known as soon as they selected the names that they would be shortened.

She loved that their daughter had been named after her beloved mother but agreed that Eleanor may be a bit of mouthful for a little girl. Ella was also a nickname that her father had used for his wife so it felt doubly special to use it now. As for Joseph, it was a name that she and Imogen had both loved and felt would be perfect for their second son. Although they had opted not to find out the genders both had assumed they would have two girls. However, experience had taught them to be ready for the unexpected so there had been a boy's name ready for when Joseph arrived fifteen minutes after his sister.

"I told you so.", Davina pointed out to Amelia for the umpteenth time since the twins had arrived. "I told you they'd buck the trend and have a boy."

"Well they had a girl too.", Amelia retorted. There was nothing more annoying that Davina when she was right. At least when she was wrong she'd disappear into a cupboard for a while, now she was just gloating. It was a minor irritation though and nothing could take away from her happiness what had happened in the past year. When Matthew had come along she had reflected that Constance with a son was something she could not have imagined. Now she and Imogen had two sons and a daughter and nothing could have seemed more perfect.

After spending some more time with the students and promising Amelia and Davina that they could visit whenever they wanted, Imogen drove her family back to their house where Anna and John had prepared dinner for them.

Carrie and Jake were also there of course and very excited to see the babies, having only seen pictures up to this point.

"Wow, a brother and a sister at the same time, you're so lucky."

Matthew's entire body glowed at Carrie's comment. For so long he had always thought that other kids were lucky, never him. Now truly he felt that he was the lucky one and he was loving that feeling. The babies didn't do much apart from sleeping, crying, feeding and doing smelly nappies but he knew that's what babies did. Once they got older they would do lots more and he knew they were going to be great friends.

In the past couple of months his magic had become dormant and would remain so until he was older. That didn't mean he couldn't start learning about his powers though and one of the activities that had gotten Constance through bedrest was spending time with her son, teaching him about magic. Matthew had already told his Mam that he would make sure the twins knew what to do if they had magical flare ups like him, considering it to be a major part of his big brother duties.

As Matthew was thinking about the future and Ella and Joey were being admired there was a knock on the door.

"Kerry, come in.", Imogen invited as she saw their social worker standing on the door step.

"Thanks, don't worry, this isn't an official visit. I have a gift for the twins that I wanted to drop off- I hope I'm not disturbing you."

"Not at all, come in. Would you like to see them?"

Kerry did want to see the babies. All too often she saw children who had been born into or ended up in unhappy circumstances. It was a real pleasure to see these two little babies who had been born into a family that she knew was full of love. And for her she felt that they had moved beyond the social worker/ client relationship into a true friendship. She had learned a lot from this couple and she was grateful to them for exposing her to different aspects of life and teaching her that the unknown did not have to be a bad thing.

"They're beautiful."

"Thank you.", Constance smiled warmly. They may have gotten off to a rocky start but none of that mattered anymore, this woman had turned out to be a friend to them all and she was happy to have her in their lives.

"How's being a big brother?" Kerry happily accepted the hug from an ecstatic Matthew. She may never admit it out loud but he had been one of the most special children she had ever cared for and she was so happy that things had turned out this well for him.

"It's great thanks. I'm just so excited that they're home now."

Matthew was excited as was everyone else and excitement often led to tiredness, something their visitors were conscious of so nobody stayed too long that evening. Instead they promised to visit over the coming days and be available for anything that may be required of them in-between. Imogen was truly grateful for the support and she tried not to be too eager as she waved them off but she was so excited to get back to her family that she couldn't get the door closed quickly enough.

"Finally, it's just us.", she whispered as she came back into the living room.

Matthew watched intently while Constance placed Ella in her Moses basket next to her slumbering brother. Once she was sure they were settled for now she sat back on the couch next to Matthew and sighed.

"How are you feeling", Imogen asked. She was so proud of Constance, she hadn't complained once throughout the pregnancy, even when she'd been put on bed rest. It was the same throughout labour, she had been incredibly brave and always focused on what was best for the babies and for Matthew.

"Tired, happy, a bit sore, excited, hungry."

"I'm hungry too." Matthew added. "But I'm very happy as well."

Imogen gave them both a kiss, "We can't have you being hungry can we? The stew Anna made should be ready now, I'll get it out of the oven."

She paused on the way out of the room to look at the two sleeping babies she had helped to make against all odds. Their two miracles looked like tiny angels. Ella was slightly bigger than her brother at five pounds three ounces. Joey may have been two ounces smaller but he was more active which could be seen by how he was moving in his sleep. Both currently had the typical blue grey eyes of a newborn, a smattering of light downey hair, pale skin and were absolutely gorgeous.

"Love you both.", she whispered, giving them each a soft kiss before going to get dinner organised.

Meanwhile Matthew had wrapped his arms around Constance. They had managed while she was gone but it hadn't been the same and he was very excited to be able to give her hugs again now. He also had a question to ask her.

"Are you very happy Mam?"

Constance took a moment to think of her answer. In doing so she thought very briefly of how her life could have been, the children she may have been forced to have with someone she despised, the children who would have been taken away for her and moulded into something she couldn't even bring herself to imagine.

 _"_ _Stop",_ she told herself, pushing the dark thoughts far away. They had no place in this happy moment.

She was married to a woman she adored and who she knew loved her in return. Together they had gone through numerous challenges and heartache but they had come out the other side with more then they could ever have dreamed of. They now had two beautiful boys and a gorgeous girl who nobody would ever take away from them. Their children would grow up surrounded by love and happiness and when it became time for them to develop their magical abilities, she would do all she could to make sure that they used their powers in a benevolent way that only brought good to the world.

Realising that Matthew was still waiting for an answer, she leaned down to give him a kiss. "I am so happy, I feel like my life is truly intact."

"Intact?"

"Yes. It's a bit like the jigsaw puzzles we do. It looks like it won't all come together but then you start slowly working with all the tiny pieces and suddenly you start to see the picture."

"And we're the pieces." What she was saying was making total sense to Matthew because it was just how he felt as well.

"Exactly. Me, Ima, you, Eleanor and Joseph, we're all the pieces that make up our family."

"And we all fit to make the picture."

"We do.", Constance held him closer and shared a smile with Imogen who had just reentered the room.

"And now we're all together the jigsaw is complete."

 **A/N And there we go. Thank you for reading.**


End file.
